Imran Khan, the former prime minister of Pakistan, has found himself in legal trouble once again. On Sunday, Pakistani police served arrest warrants to Khan, who failed to appear in court on charges of misusing his office to sell state gifts. The charges were filed by the Federal Investigation Agency, and the anti-graft court issued the arrest warrants last week after Khan failed to appear in court despite repeated summons.
Khan’s supporters tried to prevent police entry into his home, and a statement by his aide Fawad Chaudhry claims that Khan cannot be arrested because he has secured a protective bail from a high court. However, Islamabad police said in a statement that when Khan wasn’t found at his residence in Lahore, they served the arrest warrants.
Khan is required to appear in court on March 7, and if he fails to do so, police will be required to arrest him and present him to court, according to Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah. This latest legal trouble comes as Khan has been demanding a snap election since his ouster from office in a parliamentary vote early last year.
The election commission of Pakistan found the 70-year-old cricket-hero-turned politician guilty in October 2022 of unlawfully selling gifts from foreign dignitaries. Khan has been a prominent figure in Pakistani politics since his rise to power in 2018. However, his time in office was short-lived as he was ousted in a parliamentary vote early last year.
Khan has led countrywide protest campaigns to press for an early vote last year and was shot at and wounded at one of the rallies. Referring to his absence from court and the shooting incident, Khan said on Sunday: “They (the police) know there is a threat against my life,” adding that the courts did not provide adequate security.
The government of Pakistan has been in a state of political turmoil for some time, with Khan’s supporters demanding his reinstatement and an early election. However, Khan’s successor Shehbaz Sharif has rejected this demand, stating that the vote would be held as scheduled later this year.
Despite his legal troubles, Khan remains popular among the country’s youth and urban voters. His supporters believe that the government is attempting to sow political chaos and avoid an early election by arresting the former premier. The situation is expected to continue to develop in the coming days, with all eyes on whether Khan will appear in court on March 7 as required.