Pakistan’s Imran Khan gets bail in state secrets case ahead of key election
Al Jazeera
The ex-PM is granted bail in cypher case, but no clarity on his release as the country prepares for February 8 polls.
Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan has been granted bail in a case alleging he leaked state secrets, but he remains in jail on other charges ahead of the general election due in February.
The Supreme Court on Friday granted Khan bail in the case, but it was not clear how he could be released while serving a three-year sentence for corruption and facing other charges.
Khan – detained since August – alleges the powerful military is colluding with dynastic parties that have long dominated Pakistan to crush his political party and prevent him from standing for office.
The 71-year-old has been pummelled by a barrage of legal cases since being removed from office in April 2022 after falling out with the top brass, and has twice been jailed.
“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 in the same case.
