Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s bail on corruption charges was extended again on Monday, after he urged his supporters to take to the streets if he is arrested again.
Khan’s brief detention last month on corruption charges sparked days of deadly violence as thousands of his supporters rampaged through cities, torching buildings and clashing with police.
He was released after the Supreme Court ruled the arrest illegal, but says the government still plans to detain him to quell their momentum before elections scheduled for October.
“They think people will sit by as silent spectators when they put me in jail,” the 70-year-old said in a speech broadcast live on Sunday night.
“Death is much better than subjugation. Stand up against fear. You must stand up, peaceful protest is your right,” he said.
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On Monday, a special anti-corruption court in Islamabad extended the bail of Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi until July 4.
He has also been released on bail in 15 other cases before three courts, said Gohar Khan, a member of his legal team.
Since he was ousted by a vote of no confidence in parliament last year, Khan has waged an unprecedented campaign against Pakistan’s powerful military. Supporters saw his arrest on May 9 as payback for that defiance.
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Following the former cricket star’s release, his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has suffered a major crackdown, including widespread arrests.
The government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif accuses Khan of orchestrating violence against the state and has vowed to try some protesters in military courts.
“These cases are undemocratic,” Khan told a judge at an anti-terror court in Islamabad, where he faced eight cases on Monday.
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“I have never incited my followers to violence,” he added. “Peaceful protest is a democratic right.”
Khan remains by far Pakistan’s most popular politician.
But after repeated arrests, many of the PTI’s key leaders have defected, and numerous journalists sympathetic to the opposition leader are reported to have disappeared in custody.
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On Thursday, Amnesty International said it is “extremely concerned about the crackdown on voices critical of the state and the military.”
Khan says the violence at the protest was a false flag campaign to justify the suppression of his party.
But he seems increasingly isolated at his mansion in the eastern city of Lahore, venturing out only for regular appearances in a series of court cases that have plagued him since he left office.
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Analysts say those in power in Pakistan often deploy legal challenges to quell dissent.
Khan rose to power in 2018 on the back of a wave of popular support, an anti-corruption manifesto and backing from the powerful military establishment.
When he was ousted, analysts said it was because he lost the backing of top generals.
In his re-election campaign, Khan has highlighted the power wielded by top brass behind the scenes, an issue historically seen as a red line in Pakistan.
His arrest came just hours after he repeated an allegation that a high-ranking general was a co-conspirator in a November assassination attempt in which he was shot in the leg.
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