Pakistan's Imran Khan fears re-arrest

Pakistan's former PM Imran Khan is in a standoff with authorities who have surrounded his house. In his first interview since a police deadline expired, Khan told an "unprecedented crackdown is taking place."

Former Prime Minister Imran Khan, who faces corruption charges, told on Thursday there is an "unprecedented crackdown taking place" in Pakistan.

Speaking with DW reporter, Khan said he believes he will be rearrested.

Pakistani police surrounded Khan's house in Lahore on Wednesday.

"7,500 of my workers have been arrested. All my senior leadership has been arrested. So what will happen? I don't know. But I expect to be rearrested," he told DW from Lahore.

Khan said it was done "in order to crush the party so that we don't contest the election, this is why all of this is happening."

He said, "7,500 workers have been arrested, we don't know what is going on, all my leadership has been arrested."

Khan will ignore a summons by the country's anti-graft agency to appear before it on Thursday for questioning, his party spokesman said.

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It comes after his arrest last week, on graft charges. The detention sparked violent clashes across the country in which at least 10 people were killed. He was released on Friday after being granted protection from arrest in multiple legal cases against him.

He told he is facing 150 criminal cases ranging from corruption to terrorism. 

"As someone who has been known in the country for 50 years, never committed one crime, suddenly, in the last few months, he has 150 cases, no one believes this," he said. 

Police besiege Khan's home

Punjab's information minister Amir Mir said there were no plans to rearrest Khan. "All we want him to hand over the terrorists hiding at his home," he said.
Mir said intelligence and law enforcement agencies had identified that up to 40 people accused of attacking military installations during last week's unrest were hiding at Khan's home.

"It is absolute nonsense," Khan said. 

He said he invited journalists to verify that there were no suspects hiding in his house.

"I said, come over to my house and see where the terrorists are. So that defused the situation because clearly there were no terrorists, so that's when the police could not take action," Khan said. 

He said there were still police officers around his home, but far fewer than when they first deployed on Wednesday.