‘Continue peaceful protests’: Imran Khan urges supporters in pre-arrest recorded message

Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan urged his supporters to continue protesting “peacefully” in a pre-recorded message released shortly after his arrest on Saturday. Stating that his arrest was expected, Khan said, “It’s my only one appeal…please don’t sit quietly in your homes.”

“…The effort that I’m putting in, I’m doing it for you…I’m doing it for your children’s future. If you won’t stand up for your principles, you will lead a life of slaves. And slaves don’t have a life,” Imran Khan told his supporters.

Sharing the video on his X (formerly Twitter) account, the cricketer-turned-politician said, “My arrest was expected & I recorded this message before my arrest. It is one more step in fulfilling London Plan but I want my party workers to remain peaceful, steadfast, and strong. We bow before no one but Allah who is Al Haq. We believe in La illaha Ilallah.”

Khan was sentenced to three-year imprisonment by an Islamabad court in the Toshakhana case pertaining to the improper acquisition of state gifts on Saturday. Along with the arrest, an additional ₹1 lakh (Pakistani rupees) has been levied on Khan by the court, saying that if he fails to pay the fine, there could be an “additional six months of imprisonment”. This is the second time he has been detained this year.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party chief’s arrest could see him being barred from politics for the next five years as the law says people with a criminal conviction cannot hold or run for public office.

What is the Toshakhana case?

In October last year, Imran Khan was accused of “deliberately hiding details about gifts” he kept from the Toshakhana – a repository for presents given to government officials by foreign officials – during his tenure as the then prime minister of Pakistan. According to reports, the gifts consisted of seven watches – mostly Rolexes.

Khan was formally indicted in this case on May 10.