ISLAMABAD: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Lahore granted on Friday pre-arrest bail to former prime minister Imran Khan in three cases registered against him over violence in the aftermath of his arrest this month, local media reported.
Khan’s arrest on May 9 triggered a wave of violence that saw his supporters attacking military installations and other government and private property. The former-premier was set free on a court-ordered bail that expires later this month.
The clashes, which killed around a dozen people, came as the South Asian nation of 220 million faces its worst ever economic crisis, with critical IMF funding needed to avert a balance of payment crisis delayed for months.
Khan appeared before the Lahore ATC on Friday amid strict security, Judge Ijaz Ahmed Buttar heard his petitions for pre-arrest bail in multiple cases, including the one relating to an attack on Lahore Corps Commander House.
“While granting him bail till June 2, the court also directed the PTI (Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf) chief to become a part of the investigation,” Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper reported.
Khan’s bail comes as his PTI party is currently facing a clamp down by the authorities in the wake of the violence, with several of his aides arrested and many others severing ties with the party.
The government of PM Shehba Sharif and the military have vowed to punish the rioters, who they say were instigated by the party.
Asked why he did he not condemn the violence, Khan said he had denounced it “very clearly.”
“There is no Pakistani who would not condemn it,” he told reporters at the Lahore court.
The ex-premier, however, said he had never seen such a “crackdown” in the last 35 years.
“It seems as if all civil liberties and all fundamental rights are finished […] only the courts are protecting human rights now,” Khan was quoted as saying by Dawn said.
The development came as the Pakistani police planned to search the Lahore home of Khan.
Hundreds of policemen, led by the city police commissioner, would conduct the search operation later on Friday, said Punjab Information Minister Amir Mir.
“We have information that there are around 40 terrorists hiding there, so I think we will need some 400 police to search the house,” he told Reuters.
The reference was to supporters of Khan accused of attacking and vandalizing government and military buildings.
Khan’s home is located in the Zaman Park neighborhood of Lahore, the capital of Punjab.
In March, the area remained the site of pitched battles between his supporters and police who had earlier tried to arrest the 70-year-old former cricket star for not showing up in court.
Khan, who was ousted in a no-trust vote in April last year, has been attempting to disrupt the coalition government of PM Shehbaz Sharif by dissolving two provincial parliaments he controlled and agitating for early elections.
The former premier accuses the shaky coalition government of ousting him in cahoots with top generals, and has made explosive claims that they puppeteered a November assassination attempt that saw him shot in the leg as he campaigned for snap polls.
Khan has also launched an unprecedented campaign of defiance against the military, which independent analysts say helped him rise and fall from power.
Pakistani politicians have frequently been arrested and jailed since the country’s founding in 1947.
But few have so directly challenged a military that holds influence over domestic politics and foreign policy and has staged at least three coups and ruled for more than three decades.