Pakistan police fired teargas at hundreds of supporters of former prime minister Imran Khan as they protested his two years of incarceration on Tuesday, an AFP journalist witnessed in Karachi.
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party (PTI) had attempted to stage nationwide protests calling for his release.
A heavy police presence prevented most rallies from taking place, including in the eastern city of Lahore where at least seven provincial MPs and dozens of supporters were detained as they attempted to gather, according to PTI.
The main rally emerged in Karachi, where police attempted to disperse more than 500 people marching through the country’s largest city.
“The party decided to hold peaceful protests across the country, to which the government responded by imposing a ban on gatherings, (and) blocking main highways,” said Zulfikar Bukhari, the party’s spokesperson, who is based in London.
Repeated crackdowns on party leaders and supporters have squashed Khan’s once massive street power, even if he remains wildly popular.
Khan was ousted in 2022 by a no-confidence vote after losing favour with the military.
The former cricket star has been held in custody since August 2023, charged in dozens of cases that he claims are politically motivated.
He was convicted of graft in January, along with his wife, Bushra Bibi, and they were respectively sentenced to 14 years and seven years in prison.
The sentences came after an anti-terrorism court convicted dozens of PTI members, including MPs and the National Assembly’s opposition leader, over nationwide protests that targeted military installations in 2023.
Khan’s sons Kasim and Sulaiman have launched an international media campaign to drum up support for his release.
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© Agence France-Presse
