Court extends Imran’s bail until Sept.20

ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani court on Monday extended former prime minister Imran Khan’s pre-arrest bail for eight more days on terrorism charges relating to a speech in which he allegedly threatened police and judicial officers, his lawyer said.

Imran, who appeared in court in person, was booked in the case by police in August. This is the fourth time he has secured pre-arrest bail in the mater.

“Bail is extended till Sept.20, 2022, with the same sureties,” Khan’s lawyer, Babar Awan, told reporters.

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

“This amounts to making a mockery of the anti-terrorism law; making a mockery of our country,” he told journalists outside the court on Monday ater he secured his bail.

The terrorism case is one of a spate of legal woes for Khan, who was ousted as prime minister by a parliamentary vote in April.

The court said last week it would indict Imran in contempt of court case in coming days in a mater that poses a threat to his future as it could see him disqualified from politics for at least five years.

TELETHON: Meanwhile, a Us-based Pakistani citizen pledged $10 million, while a Florida-based Pakistani commited $50,000 during another telethon to collect money for the flood victims by Imran Khan.

One resident of Canada pledged to donate $25,000, while another $100,000. An Atockresident commited Rs2.5m, while Muslim Care UK also pledged £30,000 to the fund.

A former European Parliament lawmaker said £64,000 would be donated to the funds, while anchorperson Imran Riaz Khan said he and his friends had decided to contribute Rs36 million to the fund.

During the telethon, Khan said Pakistan was the most vulnerable country in the world to climate change for which joint efforts were needed to mitigate the impacts of global warming.

About the donation pledged by Pakistanis at the last week telethon, Imran said out of Rs5 billion, pledges of at least Rs3 billion have been materialised.

Sania Nishtar, who is in charge of the funds, said data from the Ehsaas programme would be used to distribute the amount among the survivors and assured that there would be no discrimination.