Ex-PM Imran Khan to be released from custody, court rules

The 70-year-old's arrest escalated tensions between him and the military.

In Summary

• Judges released Mr Khan on protected bail, meaning he can not be re-arrested for at least two weeks.

• Earlier, Mr Khan told the BBC he believed he would be detained again immediately after his release.

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Image: COURTESY

Pakistan's ex-prime minister Imran Khan has been freed from custody, a day after the Supreme Court ruled his dramatic arrest on corruption charges was illegal.

Judges released Mr Khan on protected bail, meaning he can not be re-arrested for at least two weeks.

Earlier, Mr Khan told the BBC he believed he would be detained again immediately after his release.

The 70-year-old's arrest escalated tensions between him and the military.

Many analysts believe Mr Khan's election win in 2018 happened with the help of the military, which both parties denied.

But he later fell out with the army. After a series of defections, and amid mounting economic crisis, he lost his majority in parliament.

Since being ousted less than four years into his term, he has become one of the military's most vocal critics, and analysts say the army's popularity has fallen.

And his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party says the charges against him - which relate to gifts given to him by foreign leaders while he served as prime minster - are politically motivated.

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