The Pakistani supermodel Ayyan Ali has been granted bail after spending three months in jail on charges she tried to smuggle $500,000 (£321,000) in her luggage on a flight to Dubai.
The 21-year-old was stopped by Islamabad airport officials and charged with attempting to illegally take more than the $10,000 cash limit out of the country in March.
Ali’s defence lawyer, Latif Khosa, said on Tuesday that Lahore high court had granted her bail after two failed applications to end her custody at a Rawalpindi prison.
Ali denies the charge and says she went to the airport to hand the money to her brother who was flying into the city that day.
Many of Ali’s fans feel she has been unfairly targeted, and a Facebook page demanding her freedom has attracted more than 87,000 fans.
Some Twitter users responded angrily to the decision to grant her bail, denouncing it as a sign of a judicial system that gives politicians and their friends preferential treatment.
The hashtag #AyanSavedByMukMuka, a commonly used term for a system dominated by cronyism, was the second-highest trending hashtag on Twitter in Pakistan.
Speaking in the high court on Monday, Ali said she had been unfairly treated by the judicial system and vowed to fight back against her more vehement critics. “I will take legal action against those who have started this vicious campaign against me,” she was quoted as saying.
Ali was due to fly to Dubai on 14 March, when airport officials checked her luggage and discovered $506,800 in cash. She maintains the money came from a property sale and she had no intention of smuggling it out of the country.
Known by her first name, Ayyan, she is one of the Pakistani fashion industry’s most recognisable faces, having appeared in adverts for everything from fast food to shampoos. Born in Dubai, she has also turned her hand to the music business, releasing the single and video You and I last year.
While in custody, Ali attracted headlines for her VIP treatment, which reportedly included her own room in a women’s barracks in Adiala jail, complete with an assistant to clean and provide meals. In a previous court hearing, her lawyer complained about the unhygienic condition of her less than luxurious surroundings.
Ali is due to be freed in the next few days.
