Pakistan’s ex-Premier Khan gets bail in multiple cases

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) – An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Islamabad on Tuesday granted bail to Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan in multiple cases.

Khan, who has more than 100 cases filed against him since being removed from power last year in April, traveled to the capital Islamabad on Tuesday to appear before the ATC.

The ATC granted bail to Khan in at least eight cases until June 8, according to Pakistani broadcasters.

Various cases have been filed against Khan after violence erupted outside the Judicial Complex Islamabad during one of his appearances before the court in March.

Accompanied by his wife Bushra Bibi, Khan is now set to appear before the anti-graft watchdog National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in a case pertaining to the Al-Qadir Trust case.

According to Farrukh Habib, Khan’s aide and the leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, there are “around 150 cases” filed against Khan.

The South Asian nuclear country has been in the grip of a raging political turmoil, compounded by an ailing economy, since Khan's ouster through a no-trust vote in April 2021. Khan has demanded snap elections, which are otherwise scheduled for October this year.

He has also fallen out with the country's powerful army and is facing a plethora of cases that his supporters claim are politically motivated.

He was arrested by the NAB, the country's anti-graft department, in connection with alleged corruption involving the Al Qadir University Trust. However, his arrest was declared illegal by the country's top court and later released on bail.

It is alleged Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi received billions of rupees and a large piece of costly land to build the educational institution in return for releasing an amount of £190 million ($236 million) to a property tycoon in 2020.

The amount was identified and returned to the country by the UK's National Crime Agency following a settlement with real estate tycoon Malik Riaz in 2019. The anti-graft department alleges that Khan's PTI government struck a deal with Riaz that caused a loss of over $239 million to the national exchequer in a quid pro quo arrangement with the businessman.

Khan and his party leaders, however, have denied the allegations.

He also narrowly escaped assassination during a rally in November last year.