From PMO to Jail: Former Pakistan Prime Ministers who were arrested

Former Pakistani Prime Minister and current PTI chief Imran Khan on Tuesday was arrested by paramilitary Rangers at the Islamabad High Court where he was attending hearings for two cases. Pakistan has a history of imprisoning prime ministers, and the following is a list of former prime ministers of Pakistan who have spent time in custody at some point.

Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy
Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, who served as Pakistan's fifth prime minister from September 1956 to October 1957, refused to support Gen Ayub Khan's military coup. As a result, he was banned from politics through the Elective Bodies Disqualification Order (Ebdo) and accused of violating it in July 1960. He was arrested in January 1962 on false charges of "anti-state activities" under the 1952 Security of Pakistan Act and was placed in solitary confinement at Central Jail in Karachi without a trial.

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who was the prime minister of Pakistan from August 1973 to July 1977, was arrested in September 1977 on charges of conspiracy to murder a political opponent in 1974.

Benazir Bhutto
Benazir Bhutto was the Prime Minister of Pakistan twice, from December 1988 to August 1990 and from October 1993 to November 1996. During the dictatorship of Zia-ul-Haq from 1977 to 1988, she was an opposition leader. After her brother's death in August 1985, she returned to Pakistan and was placed under house arrest for a period of 90 days. Moreover, she was also arrested in 1986 for denouncing the government at a rally in Karachi on Independence Day, in 1998, 1999, and again in 2007.

Nawaz Sharif
After being exiled by Gen Pervez Musharraf in 1999, Nawaz Sharif returned to Pakistan. However, upon arrival at the Islamabad airport, he was arrested and sent to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to complete the remaining three years of his exile. Later, Nawaz was sentenced to 10 years in prison for corruption by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), along with his daughter Maryam Nawaz. After two months of imprisonment, their sentences were suspended by the court, pending a final judgement by the high court. In 2018, Sharif was given a seven-year sentence for the ownership of steel mills in Saudi Arabia, and he was jailed again. He was allowed to leave the country for medical treatment in November 2019, and has not returned to Pakistan since then.

Shahid Khaqan Abbasi
Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, who was the prime minister of Pakistan from January 2017 to May 2018, was arrested on July 19 on corruption charges related to awarding a multi-billion rupee import contract for LNG in 2013 when he served as the minister for petroleum and natural resources. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) detained him with a 12-member team. However, he was later released on bail and freed from Adiala Jail on February 27, 2020.

Imran Khan
Imran Khan, former prime minister and current chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, was issued two arrest warrants in relation to cases involving alleged threats issued to a judge and Toshakhana gifts. His supporters had gathered outside his residence in Zaman Park to prevent his arrest, leading to a violent standoff with security personnel firing tear gas shells at protestors. However, on May 9, 2023, Imran Khan was arrested by paramilitary Rangers from the Islamabad High Court, where he was attending a hearing for a corruption case related to the Al Qadir University Trust.

Shehbaz Sharif
Shehbaz Sharif, who is the current prime minister of Pakistan, was taken into custody on September 28, 2020 due to a NAB money laundering case, after his bail plea was rejected by the Lahore High Court. He remained detained for approximately seven months until his release from the Kot Lakhpat central jail in Lahore.

Inputs from Dawn