Police on Wednesday surrounded the home of former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan, claiming he was sheltering dozens of people allegedly involved in violent protests over his recent detention.
The police deployment was likely to anger Khan’s many followers, and raised concerns about more clashes between them and the security forces.
Last week, Khan supporters had attacked public property and military installations after he was dragged out of a courtroom and detained.
Photo: AP
The popular opposition leader was released over the weekend and returned to his home in an upscale district of Lahore, Pakistan’s second-largest city and the capital of the Punjab region.
On Wednesday, Khan took to Twitter after 200 police officers surrounded the house and a prison van appeared on the scene.
“Probably my last tweet before my next arrest,” Khan wrote. “Police have surrounded my house.”
Earlier on Wednesday, Amir Mir, a spokesman for the Punjab provincial government, said Khan has 24 hours to hand over 40 suspects allegedly hiding at his home or face a police raid.
Mir told a news conference that so far 3,400 suspects have been arrested and that more raids are planned.
Pakistani authorities have said they would prosecute civilians involved in recent anti-government protests in military courts.
Pakistani army chief General Asim Munir, said in a speech to troops that “recently planned and orchestrated tragic incidents will never be allowed again at any cost.”
The advocacy group Amnesty International and the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said they were alarmed by the government’s plan.
Dinushika Dissanayake, Amnesty’s deputy regional director for South Asia, said that trying civilians in military courts is contrary to international law.
Military trials in Pakistan are usually held behind closed doors, depriving civilians of some of their basic rights, including contracting a lawyer of their choice.
A wave of violence had engulfed Pakistan’s capital and other urban areas following Khan’s dramatic arrest from a courtroom. Khan supporters torched buildings and vehicles, and attacked police and military personnel and facilities. Ten people were killed in the clashes and more than 4,000 were arrested.
The Pakistani Supreme Court later ordered Khan’s release and criticized the way he was arrested.
On Wednesday, a top court in Islamabad extended Khan’s bail and protection from arrest until the end of the month.
However, his legal team fears he might be arrested in old cases.
Khan, 70, was ousted by a non-confidence vote in parliament last year. He is facing more than 100 cases, mainly on charges of inciting people to violence, threatening officials and defying a ban on rallies. He also faces a graft case along with his wife.
School bullies in Singapore are to face caning under new guidelines, but the education minister on Tuesday said it would be meted out only as a last resort with strict safeguards. Human rights groups regularly criticize Singapore for the use of corporal punishment, which remains part of the school and criminal justice systems, but authorities have defended it as a deterrent to crime and serious misconduct. Caning was discussed in the parliament after legislators asked how it would be used in relation to bullying in schools. The debate followed stricter guidelines on serious student misconduct, including bullying, unveiled by the Singaporean Ministry of
‘GROSS NEGLIGENCE?’ Despite a spleen typically being significantly smaller than a liver, the surgeon said he believed Bryan’s spleen was ‘double the size of what is normal’ A Florida surgeon who is facing criminal charges after allegedly removing a patient’s liver instead of his spleen has said he is “forever traumatized” by that person’s death. In a deposition from November last year that was recently obtained by NBC, 44-year-old Thomas Shaknovsky described the death of 70-year-old William Bryan as an “incredibly unfortunate event that I regret deeply.” Bryan died after the botched surgery; and last month, a grand jury in Tallahassee indicted Shaknovsky on a charge of manslaughter. “I’m forever traumatized by it and hurt by it,” Shaknovsky added, also saying that wrong-site surgeries can happen “during
A MESSAGE: Japan’s participation in the Balikatan drills is a clear deterrence signal to China not to attack Taiwan while the US is busy in the Middle East, an analyst said The Japan Self-Defense Forces yesterday fired a Type 88 anti-ship missile during a joint maritime exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces, hitting a decommissioned Philippine Navy ship in waters facing the disputed South China Sea, in drills that underscore Tokyo’s rising willingness to project military power on China’s doorstep. The drill took place as Manila and Tokyo began talks on a potential defense equipment transfer, made possible by Japan’s decision to scrap restrictions on military exports. The discussions include the possible early transfer of Abukuma-class destroyers and TC-90 aircraft to the Philippines, Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi said. Philippine Secretary of
A South Korean judge who last week more than doubled former South Korean first lady Kim Keon-hee’s prison sentence was found dead yesterday, police said. Shin Jong-o was found unconscious at about 1am at the Seoul High Court building, an investigator at the Seocho District Police Station in Seoul said. Shin was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead, he said. “There is no sign of foul play in the death,” the investigator added. Local media reported that Shin had left a suicide note, but the investigator said there was none. On Tuesday last week, Shin presided over 53-year-old Kim’s appeal trial, finding her guilty
RSS