A top ally of Pakistan’s imprisoned former premier Imran Khan is released on bail in graft case

ISLAMABAD (AP) — A top ally of Pakistan’s imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan was released from prison Tuesday after nearly a year when a court granted him bail in a corruption case, his party said.

Pervez Elahi, the president of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, was arrested in June on charges of illegally appointing officers in the Punjab Assembly when he was the province’s top elected officer. Elahi has denied the charge, saying he is being politically victimized.

Elahi’s party in a brief statement said he was now at home after being freed from prison in the garrison city of Rawalpindi. Elahi hailed the court’s order in a post on social media platform X.

Elahi served as the top elected official in Punjab, Pakistan’s most populous province, when Khan was prime minister.

Khan was ousted in a no-confidence vote by Parliament in 2022 and is serving multiple prison terms after being convicted in various cases. He, too, has asserted that he is being politically victimized.