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Imran Khan, former Pakistani prime minister arrested, risks to public order

9 months ago babelfish

Police arrested former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday at his home in the eastern city of Lahore, after a court sentenced him to three years in prison for illegally selling state gifts, potentially barring the opposition leader to participate in the next elections.

According to legal experts, the guilty verdict handed down by an Islamabad district court could eliminate Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's main rival in national elections due in November.
The prison sentence could result in Khan being barred from politics, as the law stipulates that people with a criminal conviction cannot hold or run for public office.
“The police arrested Imran Khan from his residence,” Khan's lawyer Intezar Panjotha said. "We are petitioning the decision in the High Court."

Lahore police chief Bilal Siddique Kamiana confirmed the arrest and said the politician had been transferred to the capital, Islamabad. According to the arrest warrant, the politician was held in Adiala Central Prison in Rawalpindi, near the capital.
Khan's political party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), condemned the ruling and said in a statement it had already filed another appeal to the Supreme Court on Saturday.
New arrest warrant issued for former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan
July 25, 2023

Khan, 70, is a former cricket star who has embarked on a political career and who served as prime minister from 2018 to 2022. He denied any wrongdoing and in a pre-taped video speech released by his party demanded his supporters to protest peacefully.
“By the time you hear this statement, they will have already arrested me. I have only one appeal: do not sit silently at home. I am fighting for you, for the country and for the future of your children,” he said.
The sentence came just a day after Pakistan's high court temporarily halted the trial in the district court. It was not immediately clear why the trial continued despite the High Court's decision.
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Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said in a press release that Khan's arrest followed a full investigation and proper legal process in a court. He said his arrest was unrelated to the upcoming elections.

A copy of the court verdict, shared by Khan's legal team, says the former PM made false statements in connection with the acquisition of official state gifts.
"He was found guilty of corrupt practices for intentionally and deliberately concealing benefits obtained from the national treasury," reads the verdict.
“He cheated by providing information about the bounties obtained from the Toshakhana, which later proved to be false and inaccurate.”
Police surrounded Khan's residence in Lahore on Saturday after the verdict was released, Pakistani media and a witness said, but there were no immediate signs of unrest in the hours following his arrest, unlike last May.
At the time, his arrest and detention for several days in a separate case sparked political turmoil and deadly clashes between his supporters and the police.

According to political sources, Prime Minister Sharif proposed dissolving parliament on August 9, three days before the end of his mandate, paving the way for general elections by November.
A PTI official said Vice President Shah Mehmood Qureshi, a former foreign minister, would lead the party in Khan's absence.
Khan was convicted by the court in a case that had first been investigated by the election commission, which found him guilty of illegally selling state gifts during his tenure as prime minister.

He was accused of abusing his prime minister's office to buy and sell gifts held by the state, received during overseas visits and worth more than 140 million Pakistani rupees ($635,000). Khan had already been accused in a number of cases since he was ousted as prime minister in a vote of no confidence in Pakistan's parliament in April 2022.

Once criticized for being under the control of powerful generals, Khan's ousting that year came following worsening relations between him and the then army chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa. Khan said the army, under current chief general Asim Munir, continues to target him and his party in a bid to keep him out of elections and prevent him from returning to power. The military denies all of this.

Khan called on the people to take to the streets and not remain passive, and the first protests began

The next few days are likely to be very hot for Pakistan, a country already in economic difficulty.

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The article Arrested Imran Khan, former Pakistani prime minister, Risks for public order comes from Scenari Economici .

This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/arrestato-imran-khan-ex-primo-ministro-pachistano-rischi-per-lordine-pubblico/ on Sat, 05 Aug 2023 15:07:04 +0000.