The Islamabad High Court granted release to former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday, after his arrest on corruption accusations this week provoked fatal rioting before being declared illegal.
The high court also decided that Khan could not be arrested in any other case filed against him before Monday.
Since Tuesday, thousands of his fans have rampaged through cities across the country in protest of Khan’s incarceration, torching buildings, obstructing roads, and clashing with police outside military facilities.
“The head of the country’s largest party was abducted, kidnapped from the high court, and in front of the entire nation,” Khan told AFP from the court building, where he remained late Friday hours after his hearings ended.
“They treated me like a terrorist, this had to have a reaction,” he said of the protests that followed.
Police deployed tear gas to disperse protestors who had congregated a few kilometers away from the tightly guarded court, and gun shots were fired at cops after nightfall, according to a tweet from Islamabad police.
Since his ouster from power in April last year, Khan has become embroiled in a flurry of legal claims, a common hazard for opposition politicians in Pakistan.
He had undertaken an unparalleled campaign of defiance against the military, according to independent observers, which aided his rise and fall from office.
General elections are scheduled for October, and the former cricketer has accused the unstable existing coalition government of attempting to replace him in collusion with top generals.
The 70-year-old has also made stunning charges that they staged an assassination attempt on him in November, when he was shot in the leg while campaigning for quick elections.
On Tuesday, paramilitary personnel took Khan into prison at the Islamabad High Court, but the Supreme Court later pronounced the detention illegal and ordered that the procedure be “backtracked.”
According to Khan’s lawyers, he returned to Islamabad High Court on Friday and was granted two weeks interim release in the graft case as well as in all other matters against him until at least Monday.
“Khan, your devotees are countless,” lawyers for his party gathered in front of the court chanted as the ousted leader raised a fist above his head.
The interior minister has vowed to re-arrest Khan, who remains wildly popular.
– Labyrinthine legal cases –
At least nine people died in the unrest triggered by his arrest, police and hospitals said.
Hundreds of police officers were injured and more than 4,000 people detained, mostly in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, according to authorities.
On Thursday, Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial said Khan’s arrest was unlawful because it took place on court premises where Khan had intended to file a bail application.
“Your arrest was invalid, so the whole process needs to be backtracked,” he said.
Khan remained in the bench’s custody under police protection for his own safety until he arrived on Friday at the Islamabad High Court, where hundreds of security forces were deployed and nearby roads shut.
‘Country Needs Peace’
Islamabad police had issued an emergency order banning all gatherings in the capital city after Khan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party called for supporters to come together.
Faisal Hussain Chaudhry, a lawyer for Khan, told reporters that further arrests of senior PTI leaders had brought the total number to 10.
“The country needs peace but such steps by the government are not helpful,” he said.
Despite the ruling on the legality of Khan’s arrest, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah refused on Thursday to back down.
“If (Khan) gets bail from the High Court tomorrow, we will wait for the cancellation of bail and arrest him again,” Sanaullah told Dunya TV.
Khan’s arrest came after the army rebuked him for once again repeating allegations they were involved in his assassination attempt.
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.