Pakistan court extends Imran Khan’s bail on terrorism charges

ISLAMABAD, (Reuters): A Pakistani court on Thursday extended former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s pre-arrest bail for two weeks on terrorism charges relating to a speech after Khan appeared in court amid tight security, his lawyer said. “It is not at all a case of terrorism,” Faisal Chaudhry, the lawyer told Reuters of the charges, which Khan and his aides have termed politically motivated.

The bail was approved until Sept. 12, he said. The pre-arrest bail expired on Aug. 31. The charges against Khan are related to what police said was a threat to Islamabad police chief and a female judge after Khan spoke about police torture of an aide who faces sedition charges for inciting mutiny in the military.

Political tensions in Pakistan remain high as Khan rallies support for elections that are not due until October next year.

Khan has denied he threatened the officials, saying his words were taken out of context.

In his speech, Khan said he “would not spare” the Islamabad police chief and a female judge who remanded his aide to custody, adding he would take legal action against them. (Reuters)