Pakistan’s information minister Marriyum Aurangzeb defended the decision to arrest Imran Khan and accused him of inciting supporters to engage in violence.
Amid chaos in Pakistan after the arrest of opposition leader Imran Khan, prime minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government Friday questioned the Pak Supreme Court’s decision to declare Khan’s arrest ‘unlawful’. Information minister Marriyum Aurangzeb criticised her country’s top court, saying releasing the former prime minister would encourage mob violence.
Speaking at a media briefing hours before the Islamabad High Court gave the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf leader two weeks bail in the Abdul Qadir Trust case, she defended the decision to arrest Imran Khan and accused him of inciting supporters to engage in violence.
The Pak minister also slammed Khan over Indian media’s coverage of the crisis in her country.
“You look at the coverage of Pakistan’s situation by the Indian media… in 75 years, even the worst enemy couldn’t do what Imran Khan has done to the nation,” she said.
The minister also questioned the Pakistan chief justice over a lack of leniency for other politicians in similar situations. “… why (wasn’t) the court as lenient for other politicians when their ‘illegal’ arrests used to be flagged?” she asked.
The Shehbaz Sharif government has repeatedly accused Khan of corruption during his tenure as prime minister – an example is his indictment (now stayed) in the Toshakhana case that sees him accused of illegally selling state gifts received during his time as Pak’s leader.
“… you never heard our pleas but want to grant relief to this criminal facing investigation. If this is the course of justice then just shut all the courts,” Marriyum Aurangzeb declared.
The minister’s criticism came after the top court directed the Islamabad High Court to reconsider its initial decision to uphold Khan’s arrest. The former prime minister appeared earlier today before a special bench of the same court from which he was controversially arrested by his country’s anti-corruption agency. Khan’s arrest led to violence and riots as his supporters attacked military installations, burned vehicles, including ambulances, and looted general stores to protest his arrest. At least four deaths were reported amid all the violence.
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