Former prime minister Imran Khan was arrested on Tuesday in a corruption case by Rangers personnel from the Islamabad High Court (IHC). The arrest came as part of the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) investigation into the Al-Qadir Trust case, just before his scheduled appearance before the IHC bench to seek bail in multiple FIRs filed against him.
Here is a timeline of previous prime ministers who have faced arrest in various cases:
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January 1962: Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, the fifth prime minister, was arrested on false charges of “anti-state activities” after refusing to support Gen Ayub Khan’s military coup.
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September 1977: Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the ninth prime minister, was taken into custody on charges of conspiracy to murder a political opponent in 1974. He was later sentenced to death and executed in April 1979.
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August 1985: Benazir Bhutto, who served as prime minister twice, was detained and put under house arrest for 90 days.
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August 1986: Benazir Bhutto was arrested for denouncing the government during a rally in Karachi on Independence Day.
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April 1999: Benazir Bhutto was sentenced to five years in prison for corruption, disqualified from holding public office, and fined over £5 million.
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September 2007: Nawaz Sharif was exiled for 10 years during Gen Pervez Musharraf’s government. He was arrested upon his return to Pakistan and sent to Saudi Arabia to complete the remaining years of his exile.
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November 2007: Benazir Bhutto was arrested for a week in an attempt to prevent her from leading a long march against Gen Musharraf’s government.
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July 2018: Nawaz Sharif was sentenced to 10 years in jail, along with his daughter Maryam Nawaz, in a corruption case.
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December 2018: Nawaz Sharif received another seven-year prison sentence in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills corruption reference.
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July 2019: Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was arrested by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in connection with the LNG case for alleged corruption.
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May 2023: Imran Khan was arrested on the orders of NAB by Rangers personnel in the Al-Qadir University Trust case, marking the latest development in the fight against corruption.
