Thousands of people took to the streets in Pakistan’s capital to demand the release of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, who has been in prison for more than a year on political charges.
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party organized a rally in Islamabad on Sunday, marking the first strong public protest since disputed national and regional elections in February.
Pictures and videos posted on social media platform X showed Khan’s supporters traveling from different parts of the country to the capital, Islamabad.
“We will not rest until Khan is released from jail,” Khan’s close aide Hamad Azhar said at the rally’s opening speech.Kalahore-based prominent lawyer and current party leader Salman Akram Raja is the only person who can save this country from the “jaws of corrupt and incompetent politicians”.
He is heard to be Khan.
The Islamabad administration has blocked key roads into the city, barricading roads with shipping containers and deploying riot police to prevent potential unrest.
Social media videos showed dozens of party supporters successfully pushing containers to clear the road at one of the city’s entrances.
Former cricket star Imran Khan will face a vote of confidence in the Assembly in April 2022.