NEW DELHI (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 09th May, 2023) Protests have broken out in multiple cities across Pakistan on Tuesday following the arrest of Imran Khan, the country's former Prime Minister and leader of the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, videos posted by PTI show.
Hundreds of people have taken to the streets of Faisalabad, Lahore, Gojra and other Pakistani cities. Some of the protesters are blocked by the police who use tear gas grenades, while the opposition leader's supporters are throwing stones and sticks.
The Pakistani authorities said on Monday that Imran Khan had been taken into custody following a hearing of the Islamabad High Court in the Al-Qadir Trust case. PTI called on citizens of Pakistan to gather for mass protests, demanding Khan's release.
In October 2022, Pakistan's election commission stripped Khan of his parliamentary mandate as well as the right to be elected and appointed to both the country's Federal and regional legislatures for five years after it found him guilty of selling 52 valuables stored in Toshakhana, the Pakistani state treasury, and hiding information about gifts that he received personally. In April 2022, then-opposition leader Nawaz Sharif said that Khan had sold state treasures in Dubai with a total value of 140 million Pakistani rupees ($500,000 Dollars).
