Image: Reuters Berita 24 English - A Pakistani court extended the pre-arrest bail of former Prime Minister Imran Khan for one week on Thur...
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| Image: Reuters |
Berita 24 English - A Pakistani court extended the pre-arrest bail of former Prime Minister Imran Khan for one week on Thursday in a terrorism case involving a speech, his lawyer said. This happened right after the former prime minister went to court in person, where security was tight.
Khan's lawyer and political aide, Babar Awan, told Reuters that bail was granted until September 1. After that, they will ask for another extension. After the hearing, the former prime minister said he hadn't said anything wrong in the speech he gave last week.
On Saturday, police charged Khan, a former cricket star and national team captain, with making a threat when he talked about police torturing an aide who is being charged with sedition for inciting a military mutiny.
Pakistan's politics are still very tense, even though the next election isn't until October of next year. Since he was kicked out of office in April, the former prime minister has drawn big crowds wherever he goes. He said that his opponents were scared by how popular he was.
Khan said in a speech last week that he would take legal action against the Islamabad police chief and a female judge who sent his aide to jail. He said he would "not spare" them.
The police used this comment to say that Khan's goal was to make the police and the courts afraid so they wouldn't do their jobs.
Khan's bail in this case was supposed to end on Thursday, but the court gave him another week after he showed up in court.
Awan told Reuters, "We asked for more time because Imran Khan is running for many seats and needs to campaign, but the court only gave us a week."
Khan's backers and former ministers in his government have said that if he is arrested, there will be a lot of protests. One former minister said that the city of Islamabad would be "taken over" by his supporters.
Khan told reporters outside the court, where he was surrounded by his staff and supporters, that he hadn't said anything wrong.
"I tell them I will go to court, and they make a terrorism case against me because of that. Just think how funny this is around the world," he said.
