Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan has stepped up his criticism of the country’s powerful army, accusing the army chief of holding a “personal grudge” against him and ordering his arrest and crackdown on his party, reports say guardian.

“It’s personal. It has nothing to do with the national interest,” Khan told The Guardian in an interview at his home in Lahore after a dramatic week in which he was arrested on Tuesday by nearly 100 police officers and detained in connection with a land corruption case. .

“Without a doubt, the army is behind my arrest,” he said. “Now Pakistan is ruled by the army chief. Our repression is carried out by the head of the army,” he added.

Arrests of political rivals are not new in Pakistan – when Khan was prime minister, several opposition leaders were jailed, some for more than a year – but such anti-military rhetoric is unprecedented in Pakistani politics, where the military has long been seen as paramount. maker of kings and wields immense power.

Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Thursday ruled the arrest of former Prime Minister Imran Khan illegal and asked the country’s anti-corruption agency to release him from custody, Reuters and local media reported.

The former prime minister’s hearing lasted less than an hour, and the court asked Khan to condemn the violent protests launched by his supporters at the initiative of his Tehreek-e-Insaf party.