A Pakistani court has indicted former Prime Minister Imran Khan for allegedly stealing gifts he received during his tenure.
The charge may disqualify him from becoming premier again and will also mean a jail term if he is convicted.
“Khan has pleaded not guilty,” Sher Afzal Marwat, the ex-leader’s lawyer, told reporters on Wednesday.
The former premier faces charges of theft of expensive gifts he received from other countries during his time in office between 2018 and 2022.
Mr Khan faces charges in more than 100 different cases. In this case, the indictment was rescheduled several times as he failed to attend the proceedings.
He also faces allegations of corruption as the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), an independent anti-graft body, probes a multi-million-dollar property deal involving the real estate tycoon.
Meanwhile, an accountability court ordered Mr Khan to be remanded in custody for eight days as investigations into the allegations on which he was arrested a day earlier continue.
Mr Khan was arrested on the premises of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in connection with the NAB case on Tuesday, sparking violent protests across the country that already faces extensive political and economic problems.
The authorities shut down mobile internet and access to larger social media platforms and closed educational institutions in major cities, including the capital.
Officials told dpa that at least three people died in clashes in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one person was killed in the southwestern province of Balochistan.
Military installations and buildings, in particular, came under attack in several cities, as Mr Khan’s supporters saw the army as being behind the former leader’s arrest.
In an unprecedented move, protesters stormed the military’s headquarters in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.
Thousands of paramilitary troops and officers were deployed in the capital Islamabad as Mr Khan’s supporters converged on the city before the hearing was held in a fortified police compound rather than a courtroom.
The Interior Ministry said it was unclear how many troops were being deployed.
“Police have arrested 945 people from across the province for attacking policemen and government buildings,” Syed Mubashir Hussain, a spokesperson for the Punjab police, told dpa.
He said that at least 130 officials had been injured in the violence.
“This [deployment] is a bid to incite the people against the army,” Khan’s close aide, Fawad Chaudhry, told reporters in Islamabad.
Mr Chaudhry called on the army chief to revisit the decision.
(dpa/NAM)
