A Pakistani anti-terrorism court on Wednesday cancelled the arrest warrants against former prime minister Imran Khan and granted him pre-arrest bail till July 7 in two cases related to arson attacks during the May 9 violence which erupted following his arrest in a corruption case. The 70-year-old Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party chief appeared before Lahore’s Anti-Terrorism Court amid high security and challenged the arrest warrants issued against him on Tuesday.
“After a brief argument from Khan’s counsel, the ATC granted him pre-arrest bail till July 7 in both cases and asked him to submit surety bonds worth PKR 100,000,” a court official told PTI.
After securing bail, Khan moved to the Lahore High Court (LHC), where he sought an extension to his protective bail in the case of the murder of a senior Supreme Court lawyer in Quetta.
Advocate Abdul Razzaq Shar was a petitioner in a treason case against Khan, and Shar’s son accused his father was killed at the PTI chief’s behest.
Khan’s lawyer told the court that the former premier could not leave for Quetta on Wednesday because of security issues, following which the LHC granted an extension to his protective bail till July 3.
On Tuesday, the ATC issued non-bailable warrants for the PTI chief’s arrest in two cases related to attacking and torching a ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) office and a container here during the violence that erupted in reaction to Khan’s arrest early last month.
Widespread violence erupted in Pakistan after the former premier was arrested by paramilitary personnel inside the Islamabad High Court on May 9. He was later released on bail.
Over 20 military installations and state buildings, including military headquarters in Rawalpindi, were damaged or torched in the violent protests that followed Khan’s arrest.
According to PTI, law enforcement agencies arrested over 10,000 party workers across Pakistan, mostly from Punjab. The country’s powerful military announced that the May 9 culprits would be tried under the Army Act and so far, some 74 civilians have been handed over to the Army for their court martial.
Khan on Wednesday raised his voice for his party’s women workers incarcerated in jails for their alleged involvement in attacks on military installations during the violence.
“It is appalling to see the treatment being meted out to our women in jails. This was unthinkable in the Pakistan that I grew up in or in any civilised society,” Khan said in a tweet.
Khan, the cricketer-turned-politician, was ousted from power after losing a no-confidence vote in his leadership, which he alleged was part of a US-led conspiracy targeting him for his independent foreign policy on Russia, China and Afghanistan.
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