Amid the poll counting in Pakistan, bail was granted to jailed former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan in 12 cases.
The cases are linked to the May 9 attacks on military installations by his supporters following his arrest in an alleged corruption case, by an anti-terrorism court on Saturday.
Imran Khan is on a spree: First Independent’s support, now bail Bail was granted to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party founder Khan by ATC Judge Malik Ejaz Asif after a surety bond of ₹ 0.1 million was fulfilled in all 12 cases, including the General Headquarters (Pakistan Army) and Army Museum attack.
The court declared that there was no justification to keep Khan, aged 71, under arrest as all accused in the May 9 cases were on bail. Khan will remain in jail as he is convicted in many other cases. The court’s order came a day after nearly 100 seats in the National Assembly were won by independents backed by Khan’s party.
Former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi was also granted bail in 13 cases in the same case. Qureshi, who is also facing charges in other cases, will not be released either. Khan and PTI stalwart Qureshi were indicted in the cases on February 6. The two were produced before the court, where the former prime minister informed the judge that he was illegally arrested on May 9 from the Islamabad High Court (IHC) premises.
Khan was booked in multiple cases related to the May 9 violence that erupted following his arrest in an alleged corruption case. The cases registered in Rawalpindi included the attack on the gate of General Headquarters (GHQ), rioting in the office of a sensitive institution, and others.
Khan had denied the allegations mentioned in the cases’ first information reports. Earlier, after his release from Adiala jail, Qureshi was whisked away by Punjab police from prison in connection with a case about the attack on the GHQ. The anti-terrorism court also approved the bail application of former federal minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed in a case related to the May 9 attacks.
Once an ally of Khan, Rasheed, who later distanced himself from the party, was, however, released from jail. Dozens of cases have been registered against Khan since his government was toppled through a no-trust vote in April 2022 and so far he has been convicted in four of them.
Latest updates on Pakistan election results 2024:
- Victory was declared by former prime ministers Nawaz Sharif and Imran Khan on Friday.
- According to the Free and Fair Election Network, a non-profit electoral watchdog, about 100 of the winning candidates are Independents, with all but eight of them being backed by Imran Khan’s PTI party.
- A total of 71 seats were won by Nawaz Sharif’s PML-N, while 53 were secured by the PPP of Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, the son of assassinated premier Benazir Bhutto.
- Amid rigging allegations, congratulations were extended to the country by Pakistan’s army chief Asim Munir for the “successful conduct” of its national elections, emphasizing the need for “stable hands” to move on from the politics of “anarchy and polarisation”.
- It was stated in a statement released by the media wing of the military that the Chief of Army Staff of Pakistan “wishes that these elections bring in political and economic stability and prove to be the harbinger of peace and prosperity for our beloved Pakistan”.
- Concerns about Pakistan’s electoral process were expressed by the United States, Britain, and the European Union on Friday, with each urging a probe into reported irregularities.
- The international criticisms were countered by Pakistan’s foreign office on Friday, stating that they ignore the “undeniable fact” of Pakistan conducting elections successfully.
- On Friday, it was announced by Nawaz Sharif that the PML-N had emerged as the largest and would engage with other groups to form a coalition government.
- In a message shared on social media platform X, Imran Khan, who is in jail, released an audio-visual message created with artificial intelligence instead of being read out by his lawyers, as is usually the case. In the message, Sharif’s claim to victory was rejected by him, calling on his supporters to celebrate what he called a win achieved despite a crackdown on his party.
