After his detention in a land fraud case sparked fatal protests and a clash with the military, a Pakistani court ordered former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s release on bail for two weeks, his counsel said on Friday.
The detention, which the Supreme Court deemed “invalid and unlawful” a day earlier, has fueled instability in the country of 220 million people, which is in the grip of an economic crisis marked by record inflation, anemic growth, and delayed IMF funds.
Khan applauded the court’s decision, claiming that the judiciary was Pakistan’s sole defense against the “law of the jungle.”
In response to questioning, Khan stated that he did not believe the country’s security forces were conspiring against him, but that the position of army chief was all-powerful.
Khan’s detractors accused him of being manipulated into power by the powerful military in 2018, an allegation both parties disputed. He later clashed with the generals, accusing them of orchestrating his deposition last year. Since then, he has been an outspoken critic of current army leader General Asim Munir.
His supporters have assaulted military installations, set fire to a state broadcaster building, damaged buses, wrecked the home of a prominent army official, and attacked other assets, resulting in roughly 2,000 arrests and the deployment of the army.
At least eight people have been murdered in the violence, which has exacerbated the country’s instability and dashed expectations of resuming a critical IMF bailout.
The army, which has ruled Pakistan directly for nearly half of its 75-year existence through three coups, has cautioned against more attacks on its assets and branded the violence “pre-planned.”
