Khan's party holds a rally in Islamabad, marking its first show of strength since disputed elections in February.
Thousands of people took to the streets of the Pakistani capital to demand the release of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, who has been behind bars for more than a year on what his party calls politically motivated charges.
Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party staged the rally in Islamabad on Sunday, marking its first show of force since disputed national and regional elections in February.
Images and videos posted on social media platform X showed Khan's supporters marching towards the capital from various parts of the country.
“We will not rest until Khan is released from jail,” Khan's close aide Hammad Azhar said in an opening speech that set the tone for the rally.
Khan is the only person who can save this country from the “clutches of corrupt and incompetent politicians,” said Salman Akram Raja, a prominent lawyer and PTI leader in Lahore.
The Islamabad administration had blocked the main entry points to the city, with cargo containers and riot police deployed to prevent possible unrest. Videos on social media showed dozens of PTI activists successfully pushing the containers to clear the way at one of the entry points.
“It was very difficult to reach the rally. All the roads were blocked, but we are determined. If Imran Khan calls for a protest and we do not come, it will not be possible. We will be with him till our last breath,” PTI supporter Robina Ghafoor told Al Jazeera.
PTI claimed that the authorities were harassing workers to prevent them from attending the rally. Footage broadcast by local broadcaster Samaa News showed angry protesters throwing stones at riot police, who also fired tear gas shells to disperse the protesters.
Al Jazeera's Kamal Hyder, reporting from Islamabad, said it was the first time since Khan's arrest a year ago that a Pakistani court had allowed the PTI to hold a rally on the outskirts of Islamabad.
“But the authorities have put in place rules along the routes by placing containers, which makes it difficult for people to get to the place,” he explained.
An Islamabad police spokesman in a statement accused protesters of throwing stones at police personnel, injuring many of them, including a senior official.
Khan, a former cricket star, was ousted from office by a no-confidence vote in April 2022.
He has been in prison since August 2023 and faces trial for allegedly inciting violence on May 9 of that year, the day his supporters went on a rampage and attacked military installations.
The case was also complicated by the unprecedented arrest and subsequent military trial of a former spy chief believed to have been close to Khan when he was prime minister.
Khan denies the allegations. All of his convictions have been suspended or overturned in recent months.
Also in July, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar announced at a press conference in Islamabad that the government would ban Khan's PTI party, citing allegations of inciting violent protests last year and leaking classified information.
Pakistan’s Human Rights Commission has called the attempt to ban the PTI “a huge blow to democratic norms” and said it “smacks of political desperation.”
A United Nations panel of human rights experts also concluded in July that Khan’s detention “had no legal basis and appears to have been aimed at disqualifying him from running for political office.”
