On Saturday (10th February), an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) granted bail to imprisoned former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan in 12 offences related to the May 9 assault on military sites.
ATC Judge Malik Ejaz Asif granted bail to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party founder Khan after he fulfilled a Rs 0.1 million surety bond in all 12 cases, including the attacks on General Headquarters (Pakistan Army) and the Army Museum.
Ruling of the court
The court ruled that there was no need to keep Khan, 71, in custody because all of the defendants in the May 9 cases were free on bond. But Khan will remain in jail since he has been convicted in several other crimes.
Former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi was also granted bail in 13 charges involving the same issue. Khan and PTI leader Qureshi were accused in the trials on February 6.
The two were brought before the court, and the former prime minister informed the judge that he had been unjustly arrested on May 9 from the Islamabad High Court (IHC) grounds.
The General Headquarters attack
The complaints filed in Rawalpindi included an attack on the gate of General Headquarters (GHQ), rioting at a sensitive institution’s office, and other incidents. Mr. Khan refuted the charges made in the cases’ first information reports.
Following his release from Adiala Prison, Qureshi was hauled away by Punjab police in connection with the GHQ attack.
The anti-terrorism court also accepted former federal minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed’s bail plea in a case involving the May 9 assaults. Rasheed, who had previously been an associate of Mr. Khan but later distanced himself from the party, was freed from jail.
Mr. Khan has been charged in dozens of cases since his administration was deposed in April 2022 via a no-trust vote, and he has been convicted in four of them.
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