Islamabad: Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan was released on bail and given protection from arrest in a corruption case by a high court in Islamabad. The ruling came as the government and legions of Khan’s supporters were on edge after days of violent confrontations sparked by the arrest of the former prime minister earlier this week. The government has vowed it will find a way to take Khan back into custody, a move that would likely cause a resurgence of riots and mob attacks.
The ruling by the Islamabad HC gave Khan protection from arrest on one of several corruption cases against him for a period of two weeks, a form of interim bail that usually is renewed in the Pakistan judicial system. Khan, however, remained in the court after the decision as his lawyers petitioned the judges for similar protection in a number of other graft charges, trying to close off a legal avenue for the government to arrest him again.
Khan’s lawyer, Babar Awan, said the PTI chief's “life is endangered. and that there are people who fear that if Khan is released, their jobs will be at risk. A short while later, the court said Khan could not be arrested for the time being in other pending corruption cases against him. “They had no justification to arrest me. I was abducted. It seems as if there was a law of the jungle,” Khan said.
According to the authorities, Khan's release rewards and promotes mob violence. Following his imprisonment, his supporters stormed military facilities, set fire to cars, ambulances, and general stores across the nation. As a result, the authorities launched a crackdown and detained nearly 3,000 people.