Pakistan ex-PM Imran Khan gets bail in state gifts case

Islamabad: A court in Pakistan granted bail to jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan in a case relating to the illegal sale of state gifts, his party said on Wednesday.

Khan, 71, has been in prison since August last year, but it was not immediately clear if the embattled politician would be released given that he faces a number of other cases too, including inciting violence against the state.

"If the official order is received today, his family and supporters will approach the authorities for his release," one of his party's lawyers, Salman Safdar, told journalists, adding that, to his knowledge, Khan has been granted bail or acquitted in all the cases he faces.

The case in which he was granted bail on Wednesday by the Islamabad High Court is known as the Toshakhana, or state treasury case.

It has multiple versions and charges that all revolve around allegations that Khan and his wife illegal procured and then sold gifts worth more than 140 million rupees ($501,000) in state possession, which he received during his 2018-2022 premiership.

Previously Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, were both handed a 14-year sentence on the same charges. That came after a three-year sentence handed to him late 2023 in another verion of the same case.

Their sentences have been suspended in appeals at the high court. Both deny any wrongdoing, and allege the cases are politically motivated to keep Khan in jail.

The gifts included diamond jewellery and seven watches, six of them Rolexes - the most expensive being valued at 85 million rupees ($305,000).

Khan's wife was released last month after being in the same prison as Khan for months.