Imran Khan arrested live news: Ex-Pakistani PM taken into custody

 we begin with breaking news out of Pakistan former prime minister Imran Khan has been arrested by police backed by paramilitary officers at a court in the capital Islamabad Khan who has ousted as leader a year ago is facing dozens of charges including corruption and terrorism all of which he says are politically motivated let's speak to Kamal heisner who joins us live from the Pakistani capital islamabad has this arrest at this time come out come as a shock not just the way that the the time of the arrest but the way of the arrest because Imran Khan had already gone into the court premises it was inside the court premises when those rangers units which is a part of the Pakistani military but under the jurisdiction of the Interior Ministry broke the windows entered into that room then picked up Imran Khan his lawyer said that they were pepper sprayed that the former prime minister was kicked and also hit on the head and then he was taken away from inside the court premises which then prompted the Chief Justice of the Islamabad high court to say as to how he could have been arrested from inside the jurisdiction of that court now he then called The Inspector General and said he should appear within 15 minutes the Inspector General was late however the Inspector General said that it was not the police who arrested him but the paramilitary forces who were aiding the national accountability Bureau that arrested him the uh the song about High Court chief justice also summoned the secretary interior within 15 minutes he has not turned up yet the court also disturbed about that Imran Khan according to the latest reports has been taken away by the national accountability Bureau today premises and there he will be given a medical examination with eight doctors on board but however as the reports of Imran Khan's arrest went across the country protesters are already on the streets arrests are being made the Inspector General police of Islamabad is saying that anybody coming out to protest should be arrested so indeed a precarious situation developing after the arrest of the former prime minister absolutely because I Duke provides a little bit of context a little bit of background because there have beenarrest attempts in the past which have been prevented by Imran Khan supporters foreign Khan's supporters but also backed up by the courts because the courts were granting him bail there were incidents earlier outside his residence in which the protesters tried to stop the police from arresting Imran Khan because he already had bail now he's got over a hundred and forty over 140 cases against him this new case with the national accountability Bureau says pertains to some fraud in some University that was done in the past however Imran Khan's lawyers said they did not receive any notices in this regard and also the fact that Imran Khan has been cooperating with the courts despite the threat to his life there was an assassination attempt on him several months ago he has been coming under heavy uh body protective armor with his close bodyguards along with him to the course and has said that there's been at leastanother attempt to try to assassinate him when he lost appeared in the judicial complex so indeed a precarious situation also exacerbated by the fact that the government in power uh has already said that they will not uh be holding those elections with the Supreme Court says have to be held within 90days those that deadline is going to pass soon but what will be important to see is how the people react to this latest it is absolutely we'll be keeping a very close eye on events as they unfold that in Pakistan for the moment thanks very much well Imran Khan spokesman has told down to zero that this arrest is unlawful and the supporters are responding accordingly uh chairman Khan has been has been sort of talking about uh the prospect of his arrest you know for a number of years and even this morning before leaving for Islamabad he recorded a video message you know which he said that he would most likely be arrested again and this in fact you know every time he appeared in a court of law uh uh his followers are nowhere afraid that he would be taken in and I think attempts are made in the past but uh uh because of various factors you know he was not arrested but today it was a blatant interference in the judicial Affairs by the powers that be and he was taken in uh well let's see what the reaction is going to be but this is this is in violation of all all laws and rules contained in the statute book you know and I I think um the Rangers uh were the personal that took him and and I we understand you know that that they're not directly controlled by the government and power they are controlled by other forces you know which are considered to be above the law in this market in this country I understand you know that in certain cities you know large number of people are already uh Gathering and they are going to understand if they're going to block the cities so I think that will happen you know and this is going tocatch up you know as time progresses you know and we we learn about this whereabouts you know it could be that uh protests are also taken to the PACE where he is kept uh in confinement um so you know various various you know uh our leadership party leadership at uh at the Grassroots level you know they are taking the initiative they're taking the steps you know to to Galvanize people to to to to to launch protests let's bring in Paul Washer Khan she's a member of the ruling Pakistan people's party and a member of the National Assembly and she joins us now from Islamabad via Skype good to have you with us Paul Washer perhaps you can shed some light for us on why Imran Khan has been arrested today when he has been uh he has a number of cases registered against him this is one of those cases where he did not have a pre-arrest bail this is an arrest by the national accountability Bureau as far as I know so far and uh the national accountability Bureau has its own standard operating procedures with regards to arrests but please um uh keep in uh I would like to highlight the issue that the current government has already passed a law that makes the laws that govern the national accountability Bureau far less harsher than they were during a grand fund's time when a number of the opposition leaders and uh going off topic here what I'm trying to understand is Imran Khan was in court he was facing trial for a one of the cases that has been brought against him so why do these paramilitary forces storm the courtroom and pull him out to put him behind bars when he was working through the process of justice anyway since I said there are a number of cases so as far as I understand this was totally another case in which he did not have pain and the paramilitary force reports to the ministry of so it is generally under the ministry of interior not under the uh under the military so it is uh it has must have sought permission from the ministry of interior before acting but what about permission from the judge who is in that course tsorry did it seek permission from the judge who was in that Court who was trying Imran Khan permission from the judge who is in court because this is not the case that was being heard in court this was totally another case in which it had been issued several notices and he failed to either respond or appear in person as was required as has been the practice of everybody who has been arrested by national accountability Bureau during his own term and power most of the arrests that were made imbran's terms were in under the national accountability bureau's act which was much harsher than what it is now okay okay yes yes we heard that point before but imman Khan is saying that all these cases against him are politically motivated he says the government is determined to put him behind bars no matter what do you see how this action today just plays into that narrative no it does not you see these are solid cases there are cases of foreign funding this is the case of a huge sums of uh money that have been embezzled and he fails to appear and defend himself you see even if it is a case is politically motivated Let's uh for a second you know agree to what he says uh isn't it supposed to be uh the case that you come and you defend yourself nobody is above the law in Pakistan people have been uh held behind bars for years and forgotten about in frivolous cases okay he has been arrested for not appearing to defend himself but in this particular instance he was in court to defend himself you see but I'm trying to explain to you that was another case he has to understand that but why not let justice justice run its course sorry why not let Justice run its course we are trying to it has nothing to do with the government for one number two this is an independent uh uh a bureau of accountability it does not come under the government's Jewish jurisdiction in any case and the third thing is that he should appear he has failed to appear uh before courts he has awaited arrests he uses medical conditions he uses the uh you know privilege charges against uh uh the law enforcement the military the government but he does not want to appear before a court of law it has nothing to do with the government who who controls as paramilitary Rangers group I am I tried to explain that to you earlier also that the paramilitary ranges group comes under the ministry of interior which is a under the government of Pakistan it's a civil uh Ministry who arrested him they are uh they can be uh asked for by the ministry of interior and they're at their back and call but she said it had nothing to do with the government and yes they were arrested by paramilitary groups who respond to the ministry of the interior images can be asked to come anywhere if there is a Law and Order situation that is the purvy of the ministry of interior the case has nothing to do with the Pakistani government of Pakistan it has it has to do with the national accountability Bureau where he has failed to appear on a number of occasions and in the past such leniency was not shown to his own opponents do you fear for the impact that this is going to have on Pakistan we're already seeing his supporters taking to the street this is going to cause huge upheaval and divisions in the country you see uh Imran Khan has been driving divisions since about a year now you have seen as as uh have all the others and the people of Pakistan to the numbers that come out with him in case of a call for uh protests are not that great so let's see uh it has nothing to do with how the national accountability Bureau operates but he will definitely try and get his people out but in the past even a few days ago there was a call and that failed miserable so let's  see how many people come out on this well we are already seeing live pictures of people out on the streets protesting so pal we will keep a very close eye on the situation there in Pakistan thanks very much for joining us