ISLAMABAD (AP) — A Pakistani court granted bail Wednesday to former Prime Minister Imran Khan in a graft case, his lawyer said. But with a slew of other charges pending against him, the opposition leader is staying behind bars.

Still, the order by a superior court in the capital, Islamabad, was a boost for Khan in the case in which he is accused, along with his wife, Bushra Bibi, of keeping and selling state gifts in violation of government rules when he was in power.

His convictions were later overturned in appeals but he cannot be freed due to other, pending cases against him. Because the law is unclear in a situation with multiple cases, Khan has remained in the same prison in the garrison city of Rawalpindi where he has been incarcerated since his first conviction.

He has maintained his innocence and has argued that the cases are an attempt to sideline him politically by keeping him out of the public area.

  • mlg@lemmy.world
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    4 days ago

    From the telegraph article:

    Imran Khan has been granted bail by a Pakistani court for one of the cases against him but the ex-prime minister is likely to remain in jail because of a host of other charges.

    On Wednesday, Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, of the Islamabad High Court, accepted the former cricketer’s bail plea in a trial relating to alleged illegal sale of state gifts.

    But there was “no chance” of his release because of at least eight other charges against him, Pakistan’s information minister said.

    “Release for him is not possible; there are many other cases he needs to secure bail in,” Attaullah Tarar told Pakistani media.

    Mr Tarar added that the eight other charges related to the “mayhem” of May 9 2023, when Khan’s supporters rioted and stormed the Pakistani army’s headquarters in response to his arrest.

    Seems like something brewing behind the scenes after the US election considering they were stalling all these cases since August last year.