Pakistan’s Supreme Court Grants Bail to Former PM Imran Khan Amidst Political Turmoil

(CTN News) – According to his counsel, Pakistan’s highest court released imprisoned ex-prime minister Imran Khan on Wednesday. This comes a day after a lower court ruled that Imran Khan’s prosecution on allegations of disclosing state secrets was unlawful.

An additional former prime minister is vying for victory in the general election on February 8, and the former cricket star is engaged in a number of legal fights in the hopes of securing his release from prison and guiding his party’s campaign.

The 71-year-old was sentenced to three years in prison on August 5 for the illegal sale of state gifts while he was prime minister from 2018 to 2022. According to his attorney, the bail request was approved by the Supreme Court.

“A decision will come in the next hearing after arguments from both sides,” Twitter (now called X) user Naeem Panjutha, a lawyer, wrote in a post.

According to him, the Supreme Court will ask the government for their thoughts on the application, but no date has been announced for the hearing.

In nuclear-armed Pakistan, Imran Khan has been at the epicenter of the long-running political unrest that has highlighted the strong military’s grip on civilian politics.

Parliament voted him out of office in 2022 due to a lack of trust in him; he claimed at the time that the generals were attempting to undermine him over selections to high-ranking security positions.

Although Imran Khan is ineligible to run for office due to his conviction, his party will nevertheless compete in the February election against that of Nawaz Sharif, a former prime minister who was deposed in a 1999 coup and then again removed from office due to a court decision in 2017.

Last month, Sharif came back to his native country after four years of self-exile in order to assist his party in maintaining power.

Worries over Pakistan’s future have been heightened by the country’s political instability and its worst economic situation in decades.

Pakistani political conflicts have a history of escalating into court fights.

Dozens more lawsuits have been brought against Imran Khan. Claiming that his political opponents, including the military, have concocted the accusations against him, he rejects them.