KABUL (BNA) Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has been granted bail by the Islamabad High Court after his arrest on corruption charges this week sparked deadly clashes before being declared illegal.
Khan, 70, departed the court premises and was travelling towards his hometown of Lahore amid high security late on Friday, his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party said.
Khan welcomed the court’s order and said the judiciary was Pakistan’s only protection against the “law of the jungle”.
“I expected this from our judiciary, because the only hope now left – the only thin line between a banana republic and a democracy is the judiciary,” he told journalists. “Otherwise there is no rule of law here. It is a complete law of the jungle.”
Speaking to reporters earlier inside the courtroom after being granted bail, Khan blamed the army’s commander, General Syed Asim Munir, for the situation in the country.
“It’s not the security institution; it is just one man, the army chief,” Khan said. “There is no democracy in the army. The army is getting maligned by what is happening right now in the country.”
The high court granted Khan two weeks bail and also ruled that Khan could not be arrested before Monday in any other case registered against him, including charges related to the violent riots ignited by his detention this week.
Bakhtar
