A court in Pakistan ordered on Saturday that 100 opposition activists be sent to jail for holding illegal protests, prompting a tense confrontation between demonstrators and police in the centre of the capital.
On Saturday, a crowd of protesters gathered outside a court in Islamabad in a protest against its decision to send 100 activists to jail for two weeks, with some trying to slash the tyres of a police van and shouting "Go, Nawaz, go!"
Protesters led by Imran Khan and Tahir ul-Qadri, a firebrand cleric, have been locked in a bitter stand-off with the government for weeks, refusing to leave their protest camp until Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif resigns.
Protest leaders accuse Mr. Sharif of rigging 2013 election, which brought him back to power in a landslide and say they will not back down until he resigns - a demand Mr. Sharif has repeatedly rejected.
"The end of the incumbent government's rule is near," Mr. Qadri told media on Saturday.
The confrontation turned violent in August, with thousands trying to storm Mr. Sharif's house and briefly taking the state television channel off the air.
