Pakistan top court orders release of former PM Imran Khan
Al JazeeraThe Supreme Court rules that Khan’s arrest in a corruption case was illegal. Pakistan’s Supreme Court has ruled the arrest of former Prime Minister Imran Khan to be illegal and ordered that he be immediately released, two days after his detention on corruption allegations triggered violent protests. Supreme Court Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial asked Khan to appear on Friday at the Islamabad High Court, to reconsider its earlier ruling that the arrest was legal. Chief Justice Bandial “now should hoist the flag of Imran Khan’s party on the Supreme Court, or he should declare that the court is a suboffice of Imran’s party,” Azam Tarar, an adviser for Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, told reporters. Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif called it a “special reprieve” for the former prime minister, saying the court ignored his supporters’ attacks on military and government installations.