Former Pak PM Imran Khan gets protective bail till Sept 1 in terrorism case
Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan was granted protective bail in a terror case by an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Islamabad on Thursday.
Khan had previously secured transit bail from the Islamabad High Court till August 25. The court also ordered the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief to appear before an anti-terrorism court (ATC) before his bail ran out.
Judge Raja Jawad Abbas Hassan accepted Khan’s pre-arrest bail application against a bond of 100,000 Pakistani Rupees shortly after he appeared before the ATC earlier in the day, according to Geo TV. The court issued notices to the police and the petitioner while protecting Khan from arrest.
In his bail plea, Khan stated that the terrorism case against him was registered by police as an “act of revenge”.
Rana Sanaullah, Pakistan’s interior minister, previously indicated that Imran Khan would be arrested as soon as his three-day protective bail expires on August 25. The interior ministry reportedly wrote to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s office requesting authorisation to arrest Khan in connection with the terror case.
A large police presence was visible outside the anti-terrorism court in Islamabad ahead of Khan’s appearance. If the ex-PTI PM’s party was arrested, followers are encouraged to take to the streets and march to the capital.
Imran Khan was charged under Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act (penalty for terrorist actions) for remarks he made at an Islamabad rally on August 20, in which he threatened to sue police personnel and a female judge and claimed that a close aide had been tortured after his arrest.
