Pakistani Police File Booking Docs Against Imran Khan Under Terror Act Over Alleged Weekend Threats

Khan assumed power in 2018, but his detractors claimed the military, which has dominated the nation for half of its 75-year history, helped him win. Khan said the military participated in a purported American plot to remove him after his April ouster.

In accordance with the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), Pakistani police on Sunday filed a First Information Report (FIR) against former Prime Minister Imran Khan for purportedly threatening senior law enforcement officials and an additional sessions judge at a protest in the nation's capital.

Under section 7 of the law, the FIR was filed in Islamabad's Margalla police station in response to the magistrate Ali Javed's complaint. Local media reports have speculated Khan could be arrested in the coming days.

FIR against @ImranKhanPTI under section 7 of ATC violates SC judgment holding that an offence, howsoever, grave, shocking, brutal, gruesome or horrifying, cannot be termed as terrorism if it is not committed with the design or purpose mentioned in clauses (b) or (c) of S6(1). pic.twitter.com/Lfjc3qN0Lx

— Muhammad Ahmad Pansota (@Pansota1) August 21, 2022

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman allegedly threatened police personnel and additional sessions judge Zeba Chaudhry at a gathering in an effort to "terrorize" law enforcement and the judiciary. According to the FIR, the major goal of the intimidation was to stop the judges and police from upholding their lawful responsibilities.

The development comes as Khan reportedly vowed on Saturday to bring lawsuits against senior police officers, a female magistrate, the Pakistani Election Commission, and political rivals over the treatment of his aide Shahbaz Gill, who was detained last week on sedition-related charges.

Pakistan's interior minister Rana Sanaullah had earlier in the day stated that the government was considering pursuing a case against Khan for endangering state institutions. Khan's speech, according to Sanaullah, was nothing more than a continuation of a trend that targeted the military and other institutions.

"This is all happening in continuation - from a campaign after lasbela incident when six army officers were killed followed by Gill's attempt to incite army ranks to go against their top command and then Imran threatening a woman judge and police officials for performing their duties as per the law," the minister stated.

Also during the weekend, before Khan's rally on Sunday, Pakistan's media watchdog ordered television networks not to air his live speeches. The ban was announced late Saturday, the same day Khan addressed a rally in Islamabad, in which he criticized the judiciary and police for their roles in the detention of a senior official of his party.

The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA), according to an AFP report, claimed Khan was making "baseless allegations and spreading hate speech."

"His provocative statements against state institutions and officers... is likely to disturb public peace and tranquility," it added.

Khan, a former cricket star who lost his position as prime minister in a no-confidence vote in April, has organized a number of well-attended anti-government demonstrations over the past months.