Pakistani Leaders Face Terrorism Charges After Rally for Imran Khan's Release

Several lawmakers and leaders of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan's party have been arrested and face terrorism charges following a rally demanding his release. The arrests, which occurred after a violent rally, have led to further political unrest. The party has announced nationwide protests against the crackdown.

Several lawmakers and leaders of jailed former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan's party face terrorism charges after being arrested at a rally calling for his release, according to police charge-sheets seen by Reuters on Wednesday.

The detainees, apprehended after Sunday's rally escalated into violence, have been held in police custody. Khan, a former cricket star now aged 71, has been imprisoned for over a year following his ousting in 2022 sparked by a disagreement with influential military generals, triggering the worst political turbulence the nation of 241 million has witnessed in decades.

Among those facing charges is Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where Khan's party holds a majority government, the charge-sheets indicated. An Islamabad police spokesperson detailed that the charges encompass law and order breaches and assaults on law enforcement personnel but did not divulge the total number of detainees or further specifics. PTI claims nearly a dozen of its parliament members have been detained in Islamabad, with some seeking refuge in parliament to avoid arrest, while police allegedly entered the building to apprehend them.

The PTI party has declared nationwide protests scheduled for Friday in opposition to the crackdown. Despite PTI-backed candidates securing the most seats in the general election in February, they failed to attain the majority required to govern, leading Khan's adversaries to form a coalition under Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. PTI accuses the Pakistan Election Commission of electoral manipulation to bar Khan from power, a claim that the Commission denies.