Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan was arrested and sentenced to three years in prison on Saturday for corruption, a decision which should prevent him from participating in elections scheduled for this year.
“His dishonesty has been established beyond any possible doubt,” wrote the judge in a decision seen by AFP. “He was found guilty of corrupt practices by hiding the profits he made from the public treasury deliberately and intentionally,” he adds.
Mr. Khan is notably accused of having received, when he was in power, gifts whose value he underestimated before reselling them at a high price.
Imran Khan, ousted from power by a motion of no confidence in April 2022, was not present at the hearing, but was arrested immediately afterwards at his home in Lahore by the police. He was incarcerated in Attock, a fortified city about 60 kilometers from Islamabad, state television reported.
Anyone convicted of a criminal offense is generally barred from standing for election or holding office, but Khan said the government is seeking to keep them out of national elections scheduled for later this year.
His defense has announced its intention to appeal.
In a video recorded before his arrest and broadcast on social media on Saturday, the former prime minister, a former cricket star turned politician, urged his supporters to “protest peacefully”.
“I have only one request and one appeal to make: do not remain silent at home”. “This is a war for justice, for your rights, for your freedom… Chains don’t fall by themselves, they have to be broken. You must continue to peacefully protest until you got your rights,” he said.
Small scattered demonstrations by his supporters broke out across the country when the judgment was announced.
Images of the politician or even mention of his name are not allowed to be shown on television, but Imran Khan has taken to social media to reach his millions of followers.
“A thief was arrested today,” said government spokeswoman Marriyum Aurangzeb. “Any negotiation with the thief will be difficult, because he will be in prison,” she stressed.
Until now leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, Imran Khan has been the subject of more than 150 legal proceedings since his ouster from power.
A PTI spokesman said the party would be led by its vice president and former foreign minister, Shah Mehmood Qureshi.
This is not the first time that Mr. Khan has been arrested. On May 9, he was imprisoned for corruption, then released three days later.
Clashes that had left at least nine dead had broken out between the police and his supporters.
Following his release, the PTI was the target of a campaign of repression with thousands of arrests, acts of intimidation and the muzzling of the press.
Parliament will likely be dissolved at the end of its term in the next two weeks, with elections due to be held in mid-November or sooner.
“Everyone will wonder about the credibility of the elections in the absence of the PTI and Imran Khan,” political analyst Hasan Askari told AFP.
His arrest should not contribute to restoring calm in the country in the grip of a serious economic and political crisis.
Mr Khan came to power in 2018 thanks to an outpouring of popular support, an anti-corruption manifesto and backing from Pakistan’s powerful military.
When he was ousted, analysts said it was because he lost the support of top generals.
After his ousting, Mr. Khan had also issued unprecedented criticism of the army.
He has repeatedly accused a senior officer of plotting to assassinate him in November at an election rally, where he was shot in the leg.
Direct criticism of the army is rare in Pakistan, because it is considered a red line not to be crossed, at the risk of finding itself in the sights of the security apparatus.
05/08/2023 17:21:19 – Islamabad (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
