Islamabad: Imran Khan, the former prime minister of Pakistan, continued his legal fight on Tuesday before a court in Islamabad, the nation's capital, which granted him protection from arrest until the beginning of next month in several cases where he is accused of terrorism and inciting violence.
The change occurs at a time when the government has been harshly prosecuting Khan's supporters. Khan is currently Pakistan's leading opposition figure. Following Khan's arrest earlier this month, thousands organised violent protests and attacked government buildings and military installations.
Only a few days after Khan was released per the country's Supreme Court's directive, the violence subsided. In clashes with the police, ten people were killed.
Khan, who was ousted in a no-confidence vote in Parliament in April of last year, has fought the Shahbaz Sharif administration, claiming that his removal was unlawful and calling for early elections.
Since then, more than 100 legal cases have been brought against the 70-year-old former cricket star turned Islamist politician. In addition to being accused of terrorism in eight cases due to the violent protests by his supporters and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf opposition party, he is accused of graft allegedly committed while he was in office.
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Khan and his wife travelled to the nearby city of Rawalpindi after the Islamabad court on Tuesday granted them protection from arrest on terrorism-related charges until June 8. There, they appeared before the National Accountability Bureau to answer questions in a different graft case.
The couple is accused of accepting a gift of land to establish a private university in return for helping a real estate tycoon out with benefits. Khan disputes the allegation and maintains that neither he nor his wife, Bushra Bibi, committed any wrongdoing.