ISLAMABAD:Pakistan’s former prime minister, Imran Khan, was charged under the country’s antiterrorism act on Sunday, in a drastic escalation of the tense power struggle between the country’s current government and its former leader that threatens to set off a fresh round of public unrest and turmoil.
The charges came a day after Mr. Khan, the former cricket star who was ousted from power in a no-confidence vote in April, gave an impassioned speech to hundreds of supporters at a rally in the capital, Islamabad, condemning the recent arrest of one of his top aides and threatening senior police officers and a judge involved in the case.
“We will not spare you,” Mr. Khan said, vowing to file legal cases against them.
The police report detailing the charges against the former prime minister said that his comments amounted to a deliberate and illegal attempt to intimidate the country’s judiciary and police force, local news outlets reported.
Mr. Khan has not yet been arrested and is in Islamabad, according to Fawad Chaudhry, a senior leader of his political party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. Mr. Khan has not yet commented publicly on the charges.
Mr. Khan was forced out of office in April, but since then he has proved that he remains a powerful force in Pakistani politics.
In recent months, the charismatic populist leader has drawn tens of thousands of people to his rallies across the country, and his party has successfully parlayed that influence into electoral success. In July, it won a sweeping victory in local elections in the most populous province, Punjab, and this month it also fared well in voting in the country’s economic hub, Karachi.