ISLAMABAD — A high court in Islamabad has granted former Prime Minister Imran Khan a two-week reprieve from arrest in a graft case and granted him bail on the charges.
The popular 70-year-old opposition leader appeared before the same court from which he was dragged and arrested on Tuesday. The arrest triggered nationwide protests in which his supporters attacked military installations, burned vehicles, and ambulances and looted general stores in various parts of the country. The government responded with a crackdown, arresting nearly 3,000 people.
Khan’s arrest on Tuesday was a startling and controversial move — agents from the National Accountability Bureau burst into the Islamabad High Court where Khan was attending a session on other charges and dragged him away, putting him into an armored vehicle. The Supreme Court ruled that the arrest was “invalid and unlawful” because it took place from the court premises, violating Khan’s right to justice.
The controversy surrounding Khan — a figure who inspires both vehement loyalty and furious opposition — threatens to open a deeper vein of turmoil in a country that has seen multiple military takeovers and bouts of violence. The unrest has echoed that which followed the 2007 assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto during an election rally. Her supporters at the time, outraged by her killing, rampaged for days across Pakistan.
Following the Supreme Court’s release order Thursday, Khan spent the night at a government guest house in Islamabad, where he met with family members and friends.
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