Court grants bail to Former Pakistan PM Khan on corruption charges
"I have never incited my supporters to violence," says Imran Khan, who insists the government wants to detain him to quash his momentum ahead of elections.
Imran Khan was freed from custody after the Supreme Court declared his arrest illegal. / Photo: AP Archive
Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's bail on corruption charges has been extended again after he urged supporters to take to the streets if he is re-arrested.
On Monday, a special corruption court in Islamabad extended bail for Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi until July 4.
He was also bailed in 15 other cases before three courts, said Gohar Khan, a member of his legal team.
The government accuses Khan of orchestrating anti-state violence and has pledged to try some protesters in military courts.
"These cases are anti-democratic," Khan told a judge in an anti-terrorism court in Islamabad where he faced eight cases on Monday.
"I have never incited my supporters to violence," he added. "Peaceful protest is a democratic right."
Campaign against military
Khan's brief detention last month on graft charges sparked days of deadly violence as thousands of his followers rampaged through cities, setting fire to buildings and clashing with police.
He was freed from custody after the Supreme Court declared the arrest illegal, but he says the government still plans to detain him to quash his momentum ahead of elections due by October.
"They believe that people will sit as silent spectators when they put me in jail," the 70-year-old said in a live-streamed address late on Sunday night.
"Death is much better than subjugation. Make up your minds against fear. You have to stand up, peaceful protest is your right," he said.
Khan remains far and away the most popular politician in Pakistan.
Since he was ousted by a no-confidence vote in parliament last year, he has waged an unprecedented campaign against Pakistan's powerful military. Supporters viewed his May 9 arrest as payback for that defiance.
Following the former cricket star's release, his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has suffered a major crackdown including widespread arrests.
Alongside repeated detentions much of the key PTI leadership has defected, numerous journalists sympathetic to the opposition leader are reported to have disappeared into custody.
On Thursday, Amnesty International said it is "extremely concerned with the crackdown on voices critical of the state and military".
Khan says the protest violence was a false-flag campaign to justify suppression of his party.
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