Lahore: Jailed former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan on Tuesday approached an Anti-Terrorism Court here seeking post-arrest bail in a dozen terrorism cases against him related to last year’s May 9 riots.
The 71-year-old former cricketer-turned-politician’s legal team led by lawyer Salman Safdar has filed the petition.
Last week, the Lahore High Court set aside the ATC’s decision to grant his physical remand in these cases, noting that if Khan was not leading the violent protests no case could be instituted against him.
Punjab police on July 14 had arrested Khan in these cases registered mainly in Lahore against him including the attack on a military officer’s house after the ATC cancelled his pre-arrest bail and granted police his physical remand.
On Tuesday, Khan in his petition said that the sole allegation against him is related to “abetment for inciting his supporters to violence.”
“On May 9, 2023, I was in NAB (National Accountability Court) custody and was not allowed to communicate with the outside world. It was a malicious and politically motivated attempt to frame me in this frivolous FIR, craving for the kind indulgence of this court for the grant of post arrest bail,” he said.
“The material collected by police from social media was also the result of an afterthought and, therefore, does not constitute any penal offence as the majority of those co-accused have already been granted bail. There is a need for further Inquiry into my guilt as my continued incarceration is illegal and unjustified given the lack of credible evidence,” said Khan, who is currently on judicial remand in all the cases.
He requested the court to grant post-arrest bail in these cases.
The May 9 riots in 2023 were triggered nationwide after Khan was arrested by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in a 190-million-pound corruption case. He faces over 200 cases and has been in jail since August last year.
Khan has been imprisoned at the high-security Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi for almost a year upon his conviction in multiple cases. His wife Bushra Bibi is also jailed along with him.
Though Khan had secured bail or his conviction was set aside, he has not been released.
Khan was arrested on August 5 last year after his conviction in the first Toshakhana corruption case filed by the Election Commission of Pakistan. Since then, he has been kept in jail in various cases.
The PTI believes he is being arrested in more cases at the behest of the powerful military establishment to make sure that he does not come out of jail.
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