Islamabad, Pakistan:
Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan was granted bail in Islamabad on Wednesday on land corruption charges, but must remain in jail to serve time in two other cases, his lawyer said.
The former cricket superstar was indicted last week on charges that he and his wife were gifted land by a property developer in exchange for illegal favors when Khan was prime minister from 2018 to 2022. Ta.
Khan has denied any wrongdoing and had applied for bail in the Islamabad High Court.
His party lawyer Naeem Haider Panjuta confirmed the grant of bail on social media platform He said that it continues to be done.
Khan, 71, has been in prison since August last year. He was convicted on four charges in total, but his sentence was suspended on two.
Mr Khan has been named in dozens of cases since he was removed from office in a parliamentary vote of no confidence in 2022, including charges of inciting violence against the state.
His wife Bushra Bibi is also in prison for a case related to her illegal marriage with Khan in 2018.
The case, for which Mr. Khan was granted bail on Wednesday, involves Al-Qadir Trust, a non-governmental welfare organization founded by Mr. Khan and his wife while he was in office.
Prosecutors allege the trust was a facade for the former prime minister to receive land as bribes from real estate developers. The land includes 60 acres (24 hectares) near Islamabad and another large tract of land near Mr Khan’s hilltop residence in the capital.
Khan’s media team said in a statement after his release on bail that the land was not for personal gain and that Khan had established a “religious and scientific” educational institution.
It added that these cases were filed to keep Mr. Khan in prison and prevent him from participating in the February 8 national elections.
Khan faced a series of convictions in the run-up to the election, but candidates supported by his party still won the most seats. They did not have the numbers to form a government led by a rival coalition led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
