Khan lost power in a no-confidence vote in April. He is organizing popular anti-government protests, escalating political tensions in the country as he seeks to return to power. Khan himself appeared to be still at large and had not immediately addressed the police charge sheet filed against him. The opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Khan’s political party, released online videos showing supporters surrounding his home to possibly prevent police from reaching it. Hundreds remained there early Monday. The terrorism charges come after a speech by Khan in Islamabad on Saturday in which he vowed to sue police officers and a female judge and claimed a close aide had been tortured after his arrest. Under Pakistan’s legal system, police submit what is known as a first information about charges against an accused person to a judge, who allows the investigation to proceed. Usually, the police arrest and question the accused. The petition against Khan includes testimony from Justice Ali Javed, who described being at the rally in Islamabad and hearing Khan criticize Pakistan’s inspector general of police and another judge. Khan went on to say, “Get ready for this too, we will also take action against you. You should all be ashamed.” Reuters could not immediately reach Khan for comment. Hahn could face years in prison on the new charges, which accuse him of threatening police officers and the judge. However, he has not been taken into custody on other lesser charges brought against him in his recent campaign against the government. Pakistan’s media watchdog barred TV channels from broadcasting live speeches by Khan late on Saturday night, after the rally in Islamabad. Khan’s speeches were “prejudicial to the maintenance of law and order and likely to disturb public peace and tranquillity,” the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) said in a statement on Saturday. He accused Khan of “continually… making baseless allegations and spreading hate speech through his provocative statements against state institutions.” He banned live broadcasts of his speeches by news channels, with immediate effect, but made an exception for recorded speech. Pakistan’s government, police and powerful military were among the targets of Khan’s remarks. After his ouster in April, Khan claimed without providing evidence that the military was involved in a US plot to oust him. Washington, the Pakistani military and the government of Khan’s successor, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, have all denied it. Immediately after Saturday’s TV ban, Khan’s party pledged to go live on “500+ YouTube and Facebook channels.” But many Pakistani social media users reported problems accessing YouTube on Sunday, just as Khan was due to address a rally in the garrison city of Rawalpindi. In those comments, Khan said he was being censored because he did not accept the current coalition government, which had voted him out of power earlier this year. Reuters, The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report
