Former Pakistani prime ministers who went behind bars

Imran Khan, the former prime minister and leader of the PTI, was taken into custody by paramilitary Rangers on Tuesday from the premises of the Islamabad High Court, where he had arrived to appear in two cases.

Former heads of state in Pakistan's history have frequently found themselves behind bars.

Here is a list of all premiers of the South Asian nation who, at some point in their lives, were incarcerated.

Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy

Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy served as Pakistan's fifth prime minister from September 1956 to October 1957. He refused to support General Ayub Khan's coup d'état. In July 1960, he was accused of violating the Elective Bodies Disqualification Order (Ebdo) after he was prohibited from politics under the Ebdo. In January 1962, he was arrested and placed in solitary confinement without trial in the Central Jail of Karachi on fabricated allegations of "anti-state activities" under the Security of Pakistan Act of 1952.

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto

From August 1973 to July 1977, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto served as the prime minister of Pakistan. He was detained in September 1977 for conspiring to murder a political opponent in 1974.

He was released by Lahore High Court Justice Khwaja Mohammad Ahmad Samdani, who ruled that his detention had no legal basis, but was re-arrested under Martial Law Regulation 12 three days later. The regulation authorized law enforcement agencies to arrest individuals who worked against security, law and order, or the effective operation of martial law. This statute could not be challenged in court.

Bhutto was ultimately convicted and executed on 4 April, 1979.

Benazir Bhutto

For two terms, from October 1993 to November 1996 and December 1998 to August 1990, Benazir Bhutto presided over Pakistan. Benazir led the opposition during Ziaul Haq's rule (1977-1988). For her brother's burial, she travelled to Pakistan in August 1985. She was placed under house imprisonment for 90 days.

Benazir Bhutto was detained in August 1986 after criticising the authorities at an Independence Day protest in Karachi.

In May 1998, the Ehtesab Bench of the Lahore High Court issued bailable arrest warrants for Benazir Bhutto.

The Public Accounts Committee issued an arrest warrant against Benazir Bhutto in June 1998.

A month later, the Ehtesab Bench issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against Benazir Bhutto.

In 1999, Benazir Bhutto was sentenced to five years and disqualified from holding public office by the Ehtesab Bench on charges of taking kickbacks from a Swiss company hired to fight customs fraud. She was not in the country at the time of the verdict and the conviction was later overturned by a higher court.

The Ehtesab Bench re-issued non-bailable arrest warrants for Benazir Bhutto in October that year due to her non-appearance before the court in the assets reference case.

Benazir was put under house arrest for a week in Punjab at PPP Senator Latif Khosa's house to prevent her from leading a long march against Gen Musharraf's dictatorial government.

Nawaz Sharif

After being exiled from Pakistan by General Pervez Musharraf in 1999, Nawaz Sharif returned to his own country. After arriving back in Islamabad, the airport was closed, and Nawaz was detained shortly after arriving. He was then flown to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to finish the final three years of his 10-year exile.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) arrested Nawaz in 2018 and sentenced him to ten years in prison for corruption, along with his daughter Maryam. When the court decided to halt the sentences while awaiting the high court's final ruling, he was freed two months later.

In December 2018, de to his family's ownership of Saudi Arabian steel mills, Sharif was sentenced to seven years in prison once more. He was permitted to leave the nation in November 2019 to undergo medical care. Since then, he hasn't visited Pakistan again.

Shahid Khaqan Abbasi

Shahid Khaqan Abbasi of the PML-N served as Pakistan's prime minister from January 2017 to May 2018. As the minister for petroleum and natural resources in 2013, he was detained on 19 July by a 12-member NAB team for alleged corruption during the awarding of a multibillion-rupee import contract for LNG. On 27 February, 2020, he was granted parole and released from Adiala Jail.

Shehbaz Sharif

Shehbaz Sharif, the current prime minister of Pakistan, was detained on 28 September after the Lahore High Court denied his bail in a National Accountability Bureau (NAB) money laundering case. Seven months later, he was liberated from the Kot Lakhpat central jail in Lahore.

Imran Khan

Imran Khan, chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and former prime minister, was issued two arrest warrants in March 2023 for failing to appear in court for cases involving alleged threats made against a judge and the Toshakhana presents. To prevent his detention, party supporters had gathered outside Khan's residence in Zaman Park. Security personnel fired tear gas shells at protestors as a consequence of the standoff.

Imran Khan was detained on the premises of the Islamabad High Court on 9 May, 2023, on charges of corruption in a case involving the Al Qadir University Trust.

Source: Dawn.com