Imran Khan confesses to ordering protest outside GHQ ahead of his arrest

RAWALPINDI: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan has confessed to giving a call for a protest outside the army headquarters in Rawalpindi before his arrest, Geo News reported Monday.

The former prime minister came clean about his actions while talking to journalists during a hearing of a case inside Adiala Jail today.

“I had given a call for holding a peaceful protest outside the General Headquarters (GHQ) before my arrest,” Imran Khan said, adding that police and Rangers attacked my house in Zaman Park area of Lahore on March 14.

"Later on March 18, the law enforcers again forcibly barged into my house," he said, adding that on the same day, the Judicial Complex witnessed shelling inside and outside its compound.

The cricketer-turned-politician referred to an incident last year when, ahead of his appearance before the court of Additional Sessions Judge Zafar Iqbal, fierce clashes erupted between his supporters and security personnel.

Back then, he had claimed that the government was planning to either assassinate or arrest him inside the Judicial Complex.

Recalling the March 18 incident, he said he understood that he would be arrested, adding that he then called for a peaceful protest in front of the army's headquarters before his arrest.

The PTI founder said his counsels assured him that they would be part of the investigation and surrender to the police for arrest.

Replying to a question, the 71-year-old former premier said martial law was better than a technocratic regime, adding, "An unannounced martial law, however, remains in place in the country, already."

BMI, a Fitch Solutions company, in its “Pakistan Country Risk Report” published on July 18, predicted who would fill the vacuum created by the "anticipated ouster" of the incumbent government.

“In the unlikely event that the government is replaced, the most likely alternative is a technocratic administration rather than fresh elections," the BMI said.

On July 15, an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Lahore approved a 10-day physical remand of the deposed premier in cases related to the May 9, 2023, violent protests. He attended the hearing via video link today (Monday) in ATC judge Arshad Nadeem's courtroom.

The PTI founder denied the charges and told the court that he had neither any connection with the May 9 events nor did he order the riots.

“I was attacked in Wazirabad,” the PTI founder said, adding, “[...] but an FIR (first information report) was not registered according to my will despite my [party's] government [in Punjab].”

He further alleged that CCTV footage disappeared from the Islamabad High Court (IHC) premises.

Referring to the raid on his Zaman Park residence in Lahore, the deposed PM said he had given a call for a peaceful protest in response to an “attack on my home”.

The former premier, who was ousted from power via the opposition's no-confidence motion in April 2022, said that he had requested the Supreme Court to hold a judicial inquiry into the May 9 mayhem. He added that he had also reminded the chief justice to hear his petition.

The ATC was hearing 12 cases related to the May 9 riots against the former premier which erupted following his arrest from Islamabad High Court (IHC) premises last year in which protesters targeted government and military installations.

Of the 12 cases, five cases had been registered at Sarwar Road Police Station, three cases lodged at Gulberg Police Station, and one case each at Race Course, Shadman, Mughalpura, and Model Town police stations.

In a turn of events, Lahore police swung into action immediately after the ex-premier and his wife Bushra Bibi got acquitted in the iddat case — also known as the un-Islamic nikah case — on Saturday which was the last hurdle in the couple's release from jail.

The couple was arrested, again, in a new National Accountability Bureau (NAB) reference related to Toshakhana gifts on the same day.

After the anti-corruption watchdog secured Khan’s eight-day remand in the fresh Toshakhana case, Lahore police also declared the former premier’s arrest in connection with 12 cases related to the May 9 mayhem registered at different police stations of the provincial capital.