Pak ex-PM Imran Khan gets bail, but release uncertain

Deadline for election nominations extended to Sunday

FE Team | Published: December 22, 2023 22:02:46

Pakistan former Prime Minister Imran Khan

ISLAMABAD, Dec 22 (Reuters): Pakistan's Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to former Prime Minister Imran Khan in a case related to an alleged leak of state secrets, possibly a huge win for his party ahead of national elections in February.
The 71-year-old former cricket star has been embroiled in a tangle of political and legal battles since he was ousted as prime minister in April 2022. He has not been seen in public since he was jailed for three years in August for unlawfully selling state gifts while in office from 2018 to 2022.
It was not immediately clear if or when Khan would be released from jail because of the number of arrest warrants issued against him, Salman Safdar, one of Khan's lawyers who represented him in court, told journalists after the hearing.
A three-member bench granted Khan and his deputy party leader, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, bail subject to surety bonds of one million Pakistani rupees ($3,600) each. Both were indicted earlier this month.
The state secrets charge is related to a classified cable sent to Islamabad by Pakistan's ambassador in Washington last year, which Khan is accused of making public. He denies the charge, saying the contents appeared in the media from other sources.
Despite Friday's bail, Khan remains disqualified from contesting national elections scheduled for Feb. 8 by virtue of the corruption conviction, which a high court refused to suspend on Thursday. He still plans on filing his nomination papers ahead of a Sunday deadline, his party said.
A BBC report adds: Pakistan extended a Friday deadline for candidates to file nomination papers for a national election by two days, the election commission said, allowing extra time for former prime ministers Imran Khan and Nawaz Sharif to enter the race.
"The deadline for submission of nomination papers has been extended by two days to facilitate political parties and candidates," the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) said in a statement on Friday shared by the body's spokesman.
The ECP said the rest of the schedule, leading to polls on Feb 08, 2024, would remain unchanged.