Pakistan's Imran Khan slams critics ahead of arrest: 'If you have to live under these duffers…'
2 min read . Updated: 09 May 2023, 05:21 PM IST
PremiumSecurity forces had taken him into custody earlier that day in relation to a corruption case.
Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan asserted on Tuesday that he was “ready" to be jailed and insisted that there was no case against him. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief had been arrested by security forces earlier in the day in connection with a corruption case. He had been appearing before the Islamabad High Court for one of dozens of cases pending since he was ousted from office last year.
“There is no case on me. They want to put me in jail, I am ready for it," he asserted in a video message ahead of the arrest.
Footage shared on social media by PTI showed scores of security personnel in riot-control gear whisking Khan away in a van. Top aide and former Pakistan minister Fawad Chaudhry said in a video message that the court premises was "attacked" by security forces who arrested Khan.
“My reply to ISPR and attempts by PDM an their handlers to arrest me for two reasons: 1. To prevent me from campaigning because InshaAllah when elections are announced I will be doing jalsas. 2. To prevent me from mobilising the masses for street movement in support of Constitution if PDM government and their handlers refuse to obey the SC and violate Constitution on holding of elections," he wrote in a Twitter post.
Khan was ousted in a no-confidence vote in April 2022 even as he dubbed the move illegal and blamed a Western conspiracy. Since then, he has campaigned against the government of his successor - PM Shahbaz Sharif - demanding early elections.
Analysts say that the arrest will also add to the struggles of a government already hobbled by an economic crisis that has left the nuclear-armed country on the brink of default. Previous attempts to arrest Khan from his Lahore home resulted in heavy clashes between his supporters and law enforcement personnel.
(with inputs from agencies)