Ex-prime minister of Pakistan Imran Khan was freed on bail on Friday in a case where it was claimed he disclosed state secrets, according to his attorneys, but he was still detained on other counts in before of a February election.
Detained since August, Khan claims the strong military is working with Pakistan’s long-ruling dynastic parties to stifle his populist movement and keep him from running for politics.
After being removed in April 2022 due to a disagreement with the top brass, the 71-year-old has been subjected to a plethora of legal lawsuits and has served two jail terms.
“The case has completely collapsed, and Imran Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi have finally been granted bail,” lawyer Salman Safdar told reporters outside court, referring to Khan’s former foreign minister who is being held over the same case.
The two are accused by the prosecution of mishandling a diplomatic cable that Pakistan’s ambassador to the US sent.
The trial was held in private at first, with the prosecution conducting its case within the jail, but it was eventually had to reopen with observers present due to a legal challenge.
In a brief ruling, the highest court declared that “there are not reasonable grounds for believing” that Khan had committed an offense under the Official Secrets Act of the colonial era, which carries a potential 14-year prison term or death penalty.
“There are adequate grounds for additional investigation into their guilt of said offense, which is to be determined in the end by the knowledgeable trial court,” the court declared.
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party said he remains incarcerated over numerous separate graft cases, with scant chance he will leave prison to contest elections due February 8.
“The prospect of him obtaining relief in the near future appears to be very slim,” party lawyer Khalid Yousaf Chaudry told AFP.
Politicians in Pakistan have always been determined by their ties to the military establishment, which has had direct control over the nation on multiple times.
With the army’s support, the immensely popular Khan came to power in 2018. However, upon his removal through a no-confidence motion in parliament, he asserted that generals had colluded with Washington to terminate his tenure.
He publically touted diplomatic documents as supposed evidence for his claims.
In the months after he was ousted, Khan was able to draw vast crowds at rallies, where he waged an unprecedented campaign of defiance against the military.
He was briefly arrested for the first time in May sparking days of deadly unrest resulting in a huge crackdown on PTI which saw most senior figures defect, be arrested or driven underground.