Pakistan’s Supreme Court has ruled that former prime minister Imran Khan’s dramatic arrest on corruption charges this week was illegal.
The court ordered Mr Khan’s immediate release. His lawyers had argued that his detention from court premises in Islamabad on Tuesday was unlawful.
At least 10 people have been killed and 2,000 arrested as violent protests have swept the country since he was held. Tuesday’s arrest escalated growing tensions between him and the military. The opposition leader, ousted in a confidence vote in April last year, was brought to court on the orders of Pakistan’s top judge.
“Your arrest was invalid so the whole process needs to be backtracked,” Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial told Mr Khan.
The former cricketer told the judges he’d been kidnapped from the High Court on Tuesday and “hit with sticks”. There was no immediate response from the security forces to the allegation. (source B.B.C )