Bhutto, Sharif and now, Khan: Here’s a list of ex-Pakistan PMs who have been arrested

Khan, who is the chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), was dramatically arrested from the Islamabad High Court premises at around 2.15 pm local time on May 9. He has been taken into the custody of the anti-corruption organisation National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in the Al-Qadir Trust case. Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi have been accused of receiving “billions of rupees from a real estate firm for legalising a laundered amount of Rs 50 billion”, Dawn reported.

Here’s a list of ex-Pakistan PMs who have been arrested in the past:

Shahid Khaqan Abbasi

Abbasi, who served as the 15th Prime Minister of Pakistan, was arrested by the NAB in a corruption case involving the awarding of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) import contract. He was arrested in 2019, about a year after his brief tenure at the top post ended.

میرے ہموطنو! آپ کے ووٹ سے منتخب ہونے والا ایک اور وزیر اعظم گرفتار ! جو آپ کے ووٹ سے آئے گا، کیا یہی لا قانونیت، توہین اور ناانصافی اس کا مقدر بنے گی؟ pic.twitter.com/iKvx47rjrR

— Maryam Nawaz Sharif (@MaryamNSharif) July 18, 2019

He was arrested near Lahore after he refused to answer an NAB summons to appear before the bureau team to investigate his role in the case. He was later granted bail.

Nawaz Sharif

Nawaz Sharif holds the distinction of being Pakistan’s longest-serving Prime Minister, having occupied the top post for over nine years in three non-consecutive terms.

Atal Behari Vajpayee shakes hands with Nawaz Sharif in New York in 1998. (Express Archive)

He has seen a tumultuous political career — exiled in 1999, placed on house arrest in 2007, removed as PM by the Supreme Court in 2017 and sentenced to seven years in prison a year later. In 2019, Sharif applied for bail in the corruption case and flew to London citing medical reasons. He currently resides in the UK.

Benazir Bhutto

Benazir was Pakistan’s first female PM and served at the top post for two non-consecutive terms. Hailing from a political family, she was soon an active member of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) which was founded by her father Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

Former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. (Express archive photo)

In 1985, Benazir was placed under house arrest for nearly three months. She was also arrested in 1986 for making an anti-government speech. She was assassinated in 2007 while campaigning for elections in Rawalpindi.

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who founded the PPP in 1967, had served as both the President and the Prime Minister of Pakistan. He helmed the government during the crucial years after Bangladesh’s secession following the Bangladesh Liberation War.

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (Photo: Dr Ghulam Nabi Kazi/Flickr)

Zulfikar was arrested in 1977 in a military coup led by military leader, General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq. He was released and rearrested in the months that followed on a number of charges, before being tried for authorising the death of a political opponent. He was found guilty, sentenced to death and hanged to death in Rawalpindi Central Jail.

Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy

Suhrawardy, a lawyer-turned-politician, was the fifth PM of Pakistan. He occupied the PM’s post from 1956 to 1957 when he resigned from the top post.

Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy

A year later, he was arrested by the martial law government. Later, he was placed under house arrest and banned from continuing his political life.