Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairperson and former prime minister Imran Khan has been charged with terrorism over remarks he made during a speech on Saturday, which was deemed ‘threatening’.
The anti-terrorism case was filed against Imran Khan on Sunday night, regarding a speech he made on Saturday in which he threatened the Director General of Police as well as Additional Session Judge Zeba Chaudhry.
“Listen Director Inspector General (of police), we’re not going to let you go, we’re going to file a case against you. And madam magistrate you should also get ready, we will take action against you,” Khan said during the speech in Islamabad.
Late on Saturday, Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) issued a ban on live telecasts of his speech on television, citing it as ‘hate speech’.
Khan was “leveling baseless allegations and spreading hate speech through his provocative statements against state institutions,” a statement from PEMRA said.
A day after he made the contentious remarks, the Twitter account of the Islamabad Police tweeted a clip of his speech along with the caption “Anyone making threats or accusations will be dealt with according to the law.”
Since Sunday night, PTI accounts have been posting videos of party supporters surrounding his house in Bani Gala in a bid to protect him from the expected police arrests.
If arrested, Khan could face several years in prison over the charges of threatening police officers and judges.
On Monday, Imran Khan filed a pre-arrest bail at the Islamabad High Court to avoid being arrested in the anti-terrorism case.
