It comes after he hurled threats against Islamabad’s police chief and a female judge over what he claimed was the arrest and alleged torture of a close aide facing sedition charges. Khan’s nephew tweeted on Sunday: “The arrest attempt can be made between 4am and 6am. “I ask the lawyers to call for a nationwide strike. The entire country will shut down. Leader Imran Khan is the red line.” Earlier, the politician accused the government of temporarily blocking YouTube in the country to prevent people from listening live to a speech he gave at a political rally. Pakistan’s electronic media regulator announced a ban on live broadcasts of Mr Khan’s speeches because of what it called “hate speech” against state institutions. “Mr Imran Khan… in his speeches/statements has continuously… made baseless allegations and spread hate speech through his provocative statements against state institutions,” the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) said in a statement. on Saturday. PEMRA said it had, with immediate effect, banned news channels from broadcasting his speeches live, but said recorded speeches could be broadcast. Mr Khan’s speeches were “prejudicial to the maintenance of law and order and likely to disturb public peace and tranquillity”, PEMRA added. Mr Khan – who is pushing for new elections in Pakistan after being ousted from power in April – has been giving fiery speeches at rallies across the country.
