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Pakistan's ex-president Zardari gets bail on health grounds

Islamabad - He said he was suffering from multiple diseases and was heart patient, having three stents in his heart.

The Islamabad High Court on Wednesday granted bail to former president Asif Ali Zardari in the fake accounts case on health grounds, the media reported. Zardari is facing charges of money laundering and a corruption case about illegal grant of land in the capital Islamabad.

Asif Ali Zardari was arrested and jailed on charges of corruption and murder in 1996. He was elected from jail to the Senate in 1997.He spent eight years behind bars and was released in 2004 after nothing proved against him. - File photo

Bilawal Bhutto, son of Zardari, and chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), confirmed the bail by the Islamabad High Court on health grounds, Xinhua reported. Bilawal Bhutto claimed that the days of the government of prime minister Imran Khan were numbered. He told reporters that once he recovers, his father will launch a campaign to oust Prime Minister Imran Khan's government.

Zardari says he is being politically victimised by the government. Country's anti-graft body, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), arrested Zardari in June this year. Zardari has served as the president of the country from 2008 to 2013.

A division bench led by Chief Justice Athar Minallah allowed bail to the co-chairman of PPP on the medical grounds, and directed him to deposit Rs10 million as surety bonds, Urdu Point reported. The court granted him bail in two references - Park Lane and fake accounts cases.

He said he was suffering from multiple diseases and was heart patient, having three stents in his heart.

He said he had a Holter monitor attached to his chest for continuous check and monitoring of his heartbeat's variation and blockages in his arteries. He asked the court to allow him bail on medical grounds so that he could receive his treatment properly.