11th May, 2023
By Kazeem Ugbodaga
The arrest of former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, is illegal, the nation’s Supreme Court said on Thursday.
The country’s apex court orders his immediate release by the government.
His lawyers had argued that his detention from court premises in Islamabad on Tuesday was unlawful, the BBC reports.
At least 10 people have been killed and 2,000 arrested as violent protests have swept the country since he was held.
Khan was arrested on Tuesday by paramilitary troops in a sudden operation that saw officers smashed their way into a courthouse in the capital Islamabad to detain him on multiple corruption charges.
According to the CNN, the former prime minister was then detained in a guesthouse inside police headquarters where he appeared for a special hearing in front of a judge behind closed doors on Wednesday before being remanded in custody for eight days for a charge brought by Pakistan’s anti-corruption agency.
Khan has been accused of illegally acquiring land to construct a university and has also been charged in a separate case for unlawfully selling gifts sent to him by foreign leaders while in office.