An accountability court granted on Wednesday an eight-day physical remand of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan to the National Accountability Bureau in the Al-Qadir Trust case, in which he was arrested a day ago.
NAB had sought a 14-day physical remand of the former prime minister. However, the court granted a remand for 8 days.
Imran’s lawyer had opposed the request and said the case did not fall within NAB’s jurisdiction. The council said the bureau had not shared the inquiry report either.
Earlier in the day, the former prime minister was presented at the Police Lines Guest House in Islamabad’s H-11, with Judge Mohammad Bashir presiding over the hearing.
NAB’s prosecutor informed the court that the former PM was shown the warrant at the time of his arrest.
However, Imran told the court that he was shown the arrest warrant when he was taken to the bureau’s office and not at the time of his arrest.
He also urged the judges to summon his team of doctors, especially Dr Faisal Sultan, adding that he had not used the washroom for 24 hours.
The PTI chief said he did not want what happened to Maqsood chaprasi (peon) to happen to him. He was referring to one of the people involved in the Ramazan Sugar Mills case who died in the UAE last year.
Imran alleged that “they inject you and the person dies slowly”.
A police spokesman had earlier said that Imran will not be brought to court and his scheduled hearing will take place at the location where he is being held under custody.
An Islamabad court also indicted Imran in the Toshakhana case.
PTI supporters head to Islamabad
As per Reuters, PTI supporters in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were asked to gather early on Wednesday in Swabi city to leave for Islamabad as part of a convoy, the party wrote on Twitter.
Party leaders asked workers to continue protests but not take the “law in their hands”, according to messages shared on Twitter on Wednesday.
Speaking to the media on Wednesday, PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry said protests were inevitable after Imran’s arrest but PTI supporters are peaceful and “they are not causing any violence”.
Fawad pointed out that army has been deployed in Punjab but the same army “was not available to provide security for elections of Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa assemblies”.
He underlined that blocking of social media and mobile internet added to the unrest.
“The constitution has been buried and political and economic crisis have been created by the government,” he said. “Now, a terrible divide is being created which will be devastating for the country.”
Asad Umar arrested
PTI senior leader Asad Umar was arrested on Wednesday outside the Islamabad High Court. He was the third leader to be detained following Imran’s arrest. Both former Punjab governor Omer Cheema and Ali Zaidi were also arrested.
The former PM was arrested in the Al-Qadir Trust Case by National Accountability Bureau (NAB) outside the IHC on Tuesday.
A witness said shortly after Imran entered the gate of the IHC to appear before hearings, contingents of paramilitary forces and armoured personnel carriers entered after him.
The gate was blocked by armoured vehicles while Imran was whisked away shortly after under heavy security, the witness added.
The arrest prompted massive protests across the country. At least one of the protesters was killed and 12 people, including six police officers in Quetta were injured, provincial home minister Ziaullah Langove said.
PTI’s leadership ‘fighting’ to meet Imran
Earlier, PTI’s Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that the party’s senior leadership is in Islamabad and is “fighting” to meet Imran in order to have him released from “this illegal abduction”.
“We continue to call @PTIofficial family workers, supporters, and the people of Pakistan onto the streets for peaceful protest against this unconstitutional behaviour. No one, absolutely no one, should be allowed to ride roughshod over the law,” he said.
Qureshi further said that PTI’s Ali Haider Zaidi had also been picked up while PTI workers were “fired upon indiscriminately, killed and water cannoned with chemical water”.
“Today, my offices in Multan were raided and my staff beaten up,” he said.
Imran’s arrest warrant
The arrest warrant, dated May 1 was signed by NAB Chairman Lt-Gen Nazir Ahmed. It said that Imran was accused of corruption and corrupt practices under Section 9(a) of the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999.
AL-Qadir Trust case
Al-Qadir Trust is a non-governmental welfare organization set up by Bushra Watto, Imran’s third wife, and Imran in 2018 when he was still in office.
The trust runs a university outside Islamabad devoted to spirituality and Islamic teachings, a project inspired by the former first lady, who has a reputation as a spiritual healer.
Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah told a press conference on Tuesday that the trust was a front for Imran to receive valuable land as a bribe from a real estate developer, Malik Riaz Hussain, who is one of Pakistan’s richest and most powerful businessmen.
The trust has nearly 60 acres of land worth seven billion Pakistani rupees ($24.7 million) and another large piece of land in Islamabad close to Imran’s hilltop home, Reuters quoted the minister as saying.
The 60-acre parcel is the official site of the university but very little has been built there.
Internet connectivity issues
Following Imran’s arrest, major internet connectivity issues were also reported across Pakistan with Lahore, Islamabad, and Karachi witnessing massive disruption in services following the arrest.
An official with the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) confirmed mobile broadband services were suspended in the country.
“This has happened on the instruction of the ministry of interior,” the official told Business Recorder.
Outage tracking website Downdetector.pk also showed a significant spike in complaints on multiple social media platforms as well. Services of YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter saw disruption in services after 8pm on Tuesday.
British Council cancels all examinations across Pakistan
Moreover, the British Council on Tuesday cancelled all Cambridge examinations scheduled for Wednesday, May 10, 2023 in the country.
“Due to the sudden developing situation in the country, British Council has cancelled all Cambridge International, Pearson, University of London & IELTS exams scheduled across Pakistan on Wednesday, 10 May,” the British Council said in a statement.
“For exams sessions scheduled for 11 & 12 May, we will update on their status on our social media channels tomorrow,” it added.
US, UK back rule of law
After Imran’s arrest, top diplomats of the United States and Britain together called Tuesday for adherence to the “rule of law” in Pakistan.
“We just want to make sure that whatever happens in Pakistan is consistent with the rule of law, with the constitution,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told a joint news conference in Washington.
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, speaking alongside Blinken, noted that Britain enjoyed “a longstanding and close relationship” with Commonwealth member Pakistan.
“We want to see peaceful democracy in that country. We want to see the rule of law adhered to,” Cleverly said.
Both declined to comment in further detail, with Cleverly saying he had not been fully briefed on the situation.
KSE-100 falls over 450 points
At the economic front, selling pressure was witnessed at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) as the benchmark KSE-100, witnessed a decrease of over 450 points.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index saw a sharp fall at around 2:30pm when reports first surfaced that the PTI chairman and former prime minister was arrested in the Al-Qadir Trust Case by National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
Across-the-board selling was witnessed among the index-heavy sectors including, automobile, cement, chemical, commercial banks, oil & gas exploration companies and OMCs trading in the negative zone.