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The arrest, which the Supreme Court ruled "invalid and unlawful" a
day earlier, has fuelled instability in the nation of 220 million at
a time of economic crisis, with record inflation, anaemic growth and
delayed IMF funding.
"They had no justification to arrest me. I was abducted. It seems as
if there was a law of jungle," Khan told British news outlet The
Independent at the Islamabad High Court.
Nearly 2,000 people have been arrested for violence since Tuesday,
when Khan was detained by the anti-graft agency in a land fraud
case.
At least eight have been killed as his supporters clashed with
police, attacked military establishments and set other state
buildings and assets ablaze, prompting the government to call in the
army to help restore order.
"The Islamabad High Court has given a two week bail and also ordered
the (anti-graft body) not to arrest Imran Khan during this period,"
his lawyer Faisal Chaudhry told reporters after the hearing.
Khan arrived amid tight security at the court on Friday as his
supporters clashed with police elsewhere in the capital, where a
police van was also set ablaze, broadcaster Geo TV reported
Khan, wearing dark glasses and dressed in a sky blue shalwar kameez
- the loose shirt and trousers popular in Pakistan - and a dark
waistcoat, walked into the court surrounded by lawyers and security
forces, TV footage showed.
He was seen in footage waving at cameras and making a victory sign
with his fingers as he walked into the court.
(Reporting by Asif Shahzad, Ariba Shahid; Writing by Shivam Patel;
Editing by Clarence Fernandez, William Maclean)
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