Islamabad, Pakistan
CNN
—
Pakistan’s former prime minister, Imran Khan, has been granted bail by Islamabad’s highest court, days after his dramatic arrest over corruption charges set off a deadly outpouring of anger against the country’s military.
A judge in the capital city’s High Court on Friday ordered Khan’s temporary release for two weeks.
“I am 100% sure I will be arrested again. I was allowed by the NAB to talk to my wife, arrest warrants are issued against her too,” Khan told CNN outside the courtroom ahead of his hearing.
It came a day after Pakistan’s Supreme Court ruled Khan’s arrest on Tuesday by Pakistan’s anti-graft agency, the National Accountability Bureau (NBI), was unlawful.
Khan’s party had filed a petition to challenge the illegal land acquisition charges against him by the NBI.
He accused the country’s powerful army chief of being behind his arrest, in his first public comments since the arrest.
“There is only one man taking action against me and that is the army chief,” Khan told reporters in court on Friday, referring to army chief General Syed Asim Munir.
CNN has approached Pakistan’s military for comment.
Khan was ousted in a parliamentary no-confidence vote last year and has since led a popular campaign against the current government led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, accusing it of colluding with senior military leaders to remove him from office and keep him locked out of politics.
He has also made allegations the government worked with the United States in a conspiracy to remove him from office, claims both parties rejected.
The army has previously rejected Khan’s claims it had anything to do with past purported attempts on his life.
Unprecedented scenes emerged following Khan’s arrest of defiant crowds breaking into military properties and setting the homes of army personnel ablaze, directly challenging a usually untouchable force that has long sat at the apex of power in Pakistan.
The government has blocked mobile internet services in a bid to quell the chaos, disrupting access to social media like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube as well as key delivery apps and even digital payment platforms.
At least eight people have died and hundreds have been arrested nationwide, according to officials.
Police have also arrested several senior leaders of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party for “inciting arson and violent protests.”
The crisis comes as the nation of 220 million people grapples with an acute economic crisis, as soaring inflation leaves people unable to afford food and fuel, heightening fears about the country’s stability in what is an election year for Pakistan.
