ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan will approach an anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Thursday for pre-arrest bail in a terrorism case registered against him over a contentious speech the government declared threatening to a judge.
Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday granted transit bail to Khan and barred the police from arresting him.
The move follows a police case filed against Khan on Saturday for “threatening” to sue the chief of Islamabad police and a junior judge in a public speech about the alleged police torture of Shehbaz Gill, his aide, who faces sedition charges for “inciting mutiny” in the military.
Saturday’s police report cited Khan’s comments that he “would not spare” the top cop and the judge for the arrest, and subsequent detention, of Gill.
In a video message shared on the Twitter handle of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Babar Awan, Khan’s counsel, said the former prime minister had chaired a meeting of the party’s legal committee earlier today in which it was decided that an application seeking his bail would be filed in an ATC in Islamabad.
چئیرمین پی ٹی آئی عمران خان کا کل انسداد دہشت گردی کی عدالت پیش ہونے کا فیصلہ۔ @BabarAwanPK
#PakistanUnderFascism
pic.twitter.com/GeWZIItxZL— PTI (@PTIofficial) August 24, 2022
“Imran Khan will go there himself,” the lawyer clarified, claiming that both the local and international media had been asking about the matter.
“This fake case […] in which there was neither a blast nor a Kalashnikov used […] and the police built up charges of terrorism, destroying Pakistan’s narrative against terrorism developed over the last 20 years.”
Hundreds of Khan’s supporters stood outside his home on Monday in a show of support as the former premier held meetings inside. The party has warned that it will hold nationwide rallies if Khan is arrested while working to try to squash the charges in court.
“We will take over Islamabad and my message to police is […] don’t be part of this political war anymore,” warned Ali Amin Khan Gandapur, a former minister.
