Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan was taken into custody by paramilitary soldiers on Tuesday on charges of corruption.
Khan was taken into custody on May 9 when soldiers busted through a window at the Islamabad High Court as he was attending a series of hearings, according to CNN.
Video footage shows Khan being taken to a military vehicle by dozens of paramilitary troops in body armor and carrying batons.
The former cricket star led Pakistan as prime minister from 2018 to 2022, when he was removed from office through a no-confidence vote in parliament.
Khan and his supporters have claimed that the United States plotted with the Pakistani military to have him removed from office due to his foreign policy favoring relationships with Russia and China. This has been denied by Pakistani military officials and the White House.
After being replaced as prime minister by senior military officer Shehbaz Sharif, Khan was threatened with arrest on charges ranging from corruption to terrorism.
Khan’s latest arrest is in connection with having allegedly received kickbacks from a land deal near Islamabad with real estate tycoon Malik Riaz Hussain.
But the tension between Khan and the current Pakistani leadership appears to run far deeper.
Khan reportedly survived an assassination attempt last November that he claims was orchestrated by Sharif.
Khan’s accusations stoked the anger of the military, with an army spokesperson issuing a censure and a warning to Khan, calling the allegations “highly irresponsible and baseless,” according to CNBC.
Responding in turn, Khan maintained that he was telling the truth and said that he was “ready to go to jail” should someone produce a warrant, according to CNBC.
Khan’s political party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), has called for mass protests in response to the arrest.
PTI also released a prerecorded statement from the former prime minister on YouTube in which Khan tells his supporters “to come out for your fundamental rights; no nation is handed its freedom on a plate; the time has come for all of you to come and struggle for your rights,” according to CNN.
Several videos of protestors taking to the streets in a dozen different cities have been posted on the party’s TikTok and Twitter accounts under the hashtag #ReleaseImranKhan.
@ptiofficial لاہور کی تازہ ترین صورت حال #ReleaseImranKhan #SupportYouSkipper
Some of the protests have turned violent, with demonstrators allegedly throwing stones at police, according to CNN. Arrests have been made, and at least one man was fatally shot by police, as witnessed by a CNN reporter at one such protest in Quetta.
Despite his legal troubles, Khan remains a prominent figure in Pakistan, with some experts seeing him as capable of once again winning the country’s upcoming elections, according to CNBC.