Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan was released today by an Islamabad court that lifted an arrest warrant issued against him, his lawyers announced.

The 70-year-old former prime minister was facing corruption charges.

After several days of legal wrangling, Khan today left Lahore for the Islamabad courthouse, 300 kilometers away. However, he was unable to get out of his car as police fired tear gas at his gathered supporters, who responded with stones and bricks.

The court did, however, recognize Khan’s “presence,” as lawyers said, even though he was unable to appear before the judges. “He canceled the arrest warrant and the proceedings were adjourned to March 30,” said Gohar Khan, one of the former prime minister’s lawyers.

Imran Khan is accused by the Election Commission of Pakistan of not declaring the gifts he received when he was prime minister, nor the proceeds from their sale. He denies the charge.

Earlier today, Khan accused authorities of plotting to arrest him and claimed he is the victim of a conspiracy to keep him out of the October election.

Khan lost power in April 2022 following an impeachment motion and is now pushing the coalition government that replaced him to call early elections.

Today, around 4,000 police officers, including members of the special forces and counter-terrorism forces, were deployed in Islamabad and the city’s hospitals were put on alert. Police raided Khan’s home in an upmarket Lahore district after earlier blocking the surrounding streets and jamming mobile phones in the area.

Clashes broke out at the beginning of the week between his supporters and police officers who went to his home to arrest him. A court eventually ordered the security forces to withdraw and Khan promised to attend court today, which he had refused to do in previous days citing security concerns.