Pakistani police charge former prime minister with terrorism

Pakistani authorities on Monday said police filed the charges, which come after former Prime Minister Imran Khan held mass rallies in a push to retake the office he lost in April. In a Saturday speech, Khan vowed to sue police officers and a federal judge. He also claimed that one of his aides was tortured while in police custody. Khan could face several years in prison if convicted of threatening authorities under a 1997 anti-terrorism law.

Why terrorism charges? Pakistan’s 1997 law was intended to give police more authority to crack down on the sectarian violence that was plaguing the country. But nearly 25 years later, critics have accused police of using the law to bypass defendants’ constitutional protections and authorities of using it for political purposes.

Dig deeper: Read Sophia Lee’s report from the WORLD archives about Christians who had to flee Pakistan for Thailand due to persecution by Islamic extremists.