[JURIST] An anti-terrorism court in Pakistan on Wednesday issued arrest warrants for opposition leader and former cricketer Imran Khan [NYT backgrounder] and cleric Tahir ul-Qadri [official website] in connection with protests in September. Thousands of protesters led by the two leaders marched [Reuters report] in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif [official profile] over allegations of corruption and vote-rigging during the May 2013 election. Before the rallies ended in late October, three protesters were killed in clashes with police. In addition to Khan and ul-Qadri, arrest warrants were issued for 33 demonstrators for allegedly storming parliament and taking over the state run news station.

The arrest warrants are expected to trigger new bouts of unrest in a nation seeking to establish political stability. In September an Islamabad court ordered [JURIST report] police to register a first information report Sharif and other cabinet members for killings of protesters on August 31 in Islamabad’s Red Zone. In July Sharif approved [JURIST report] a new anti-terrorism bill [text, PDF] that detractors claim grants excessive power to police. The bill, known as the Protection of Pakistan Ordinance, allows police to use lethal force, to search buildings without a warrant and to detain suspects at secret facilities for up to 60 days without charge “on reasonable apprehension of commission of a scheduled offense.”