The court ruled on Saturday that national cricketing hero Khan, who was sacked in a vote of no confidence in April 2022 but remains the country’s top opposition figure, had concealed assets after selling state gifts.
Imprisonment could prevent you from practicing politics under a law that prohibits anyone with a criminal conviction from holding or seeking public office. He could also lose the chairmanship of the party he founded, the Pakistan Justice Movement.
Khan was arrested on Saturday at his home in the eastern city of Lahore and taken to jail.
Government officials celebrated Khan’s arrest and conviction on Saturday, with Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari calling it a “punishment” for the opposition leader.
Critics say efforts to put him behind bars are politically motivated and have intensified ahead of elections later this year.
They argue that Khan’s popularity and broad base of support, coupled with his ability to mobilize crowds, pose a threat to the ruling coalition and its backers, the powerful Pakistani military, the ultimate arbiters of the country’s politics since its independence from Great Britain. Britain in 1947.
It is the second time this year that Khan has been detained, joining other former Pakistani prime ministers who have been arrested and subjected to military intervention throughout the country’s political history.
But his current stay in Attock prison is very different from his conditions of custody in May, when he was transferred to a well-appointed guest house in a police compound in Islamabad by order of the Supreme Court. He was then allowed visits and meetings with party colleagues.
Attock prison, in the eastern Punjab province, is known for its harsh conditions and its inmates include convicted militants. Khan’s prison term began on Saturday, but for now it is unclear whether he will serve the full three-year sentence in Attock.
Authorities have further tightened security around the prison, which already has armed guards on watchtowers, erecting barriers and blocking roads to keep people out. They have also instructed locals not to allow the media on their roofs to prevent photos and videos from leaking.
Pakistan Justice Movement lawyer Shoaib Shaheen told The Associated Press that prison guards refused entry to a legal team that went to see Khan. He added that the party will appeal against “so many gaps in the verdict.”
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Associated Press writer Anum Naveed in Attock, Pakistan contributed to this report.
FOUNTAIN: Associated Press
