Pakistan’s former PM Imran Khan charged under anti-terror law | Imran Khan

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Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan has been charged under the anti-terror act following accusations of threats to police and a magistrate, after a fiery speech to supporters at the weekend.

Khan lost power in a no-confidence vote in April. He has been staging popular anti-government protests, escalating political tensions in the country as he seeks to return to office.

Khan himself appeared to still be free and had not immediately addressed the police charge sheet being lodged against him. Pakistan’s opposition Tehreek-e-Insaf party (PTI), Khan’s political party, published online videos showing supporters surrounding his home to potentially stop police from reaching it.

Pakistan’s media watchdog banned television channels from broadcasting live addresses by Khan late Saturday night – the same day he held a rally in the capital, Islamabad, in which he criticized police officials and the over the arrest of one of his party’s leaders.

Khan reportedly made threats to Islamabad’s police chief and a female judge over what he called the arrest and alleged torture of a close aide who faces sedition charges for urging the military’s lower ranks to defy the orders of superiors.

“We will not spare you,” Khan reportedly said, vowing to file legal cases against them.

Reuters could not immediately reach Khan for comment.

The New York Times, citing local media outlets, said the police report detailing the charges against Khan alleged that his comments amounted to a deliberate and illegal attempt to intimidate the country’s judiciary and police force.

Khan’s speeches were “prejudicial to the maintenance of law and order and likely to disturb public peace and tranquility”, the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) said in a statement on Saturday.

It accused Khan of “continuously … levelling baseless allegations and spreading hate speech through his provocative against state institutions”.

It prohibited live broadcasts of his speeches by news channels, with immediate effect, but made an exception for recorded speech.

Pakistan’s government, police and its powerful army have been among the targets of Khan’s remarks.

After his ouster in April, Khan alleged without evidence providing that the military took part in a US plot to oust him. Washington, the Pakistani military and the government of Khan’s successor, prime minister Shahbaz Sharif, all have denied that.

Soon after Saturday’s television ban, Khan’s party vowed to go live on “500+ YouTube and Facebook channels.”

However, many Pakistani users of social media reported problems in accessing YouTube on Sunday, just as Khan was about to address a gathering in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.

In those comments, Khan said he was being censored for not accepting the current coalition government, which had voted him out of power earlier this year.

Reuters, Associated Press and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report

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