Pakistani security forces fired tear gas and carried out baton charges against supporters of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday, as his party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), staged nationwide protests to mark three years since his arrest. Police deployed shipping containers to block access to rally sites in several cities, arrested elected lawmakers and dozens of workers, and clashed with demonstrators in Rawalpindi, Lahore and Karachi.
Imran Khan, who served as Pakistan's prime minister from 2018 to 2022, has been held at Rawalpindi's Adiala Jail since August 5, 2023. He is serving a 14-year sentence in a corruption case linked to a £190 million trust fund, and separately was convicted of concealing gifts received through the state treasury. His supporters dispute both convictions, arguing they are politically motivated. According to PTI, Khan has not been permitted to meet family members or party leaders since last December, despite a court order mandating regular visits — a claim the government contests.
Protests unfolded across the country but were met with markedly different responses by authorities. In Lahore, police baton-charged workers and journalists outside the civil secretariat, arresting one member of the National Assembly, four provincial lawmakers and several party workers. In Karachi, authorities sealed all roads leading to the Karachi Press Club — where PTI had planned its main rally — with large shipping containers, forcing demonstrators to regroup near Zainab Market in the city's Saddar district. Police later used tear gas and batons there too, detaining more than ten workers. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) provincial Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, speaking at a large rally in Peshawar, warned that PTI would march on the capital Islamabad on September 27 if Khan's legal cases were not heard independently and access restrictions at the jail were not lifted.
The crackdown on protests coincided with sweeping new restrictions on the international press. Pakistan's Ministry of Information announced the Foreign Media Facilitation Guidelines 2026, which require journalists — including foreign nationals and Pakistani citizens working for overseas outlets — to seek prior government permission before reporting from anywhere in the country except Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore. Pakistan ranks 153rd out of 180 countries on the World Press Freedom Index, but journalists and media freedom advocates say these are the most severe restrictions ever placed specifically on international media. The new rules appear to follow international coverage of deadly security force violence against protesters in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, a disputed Himalayan territory. Al Jazeera's website was blocked in Pakistan after it reported on those events, and the BBC was asked to leave the region after quoting witnesses who accused security forces of firing on unarmed protesters.
The combination of protest crackdowns and media restrictions has drawn sharp condemnation from press freedom advocates. Nasir Zaidi, a veteran journalist who was publicly flogged under military dictator General Zia ul-Haq for defending press rights, said the current climate was worse than anything he had witnessed under martial law.