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Jul 15, 2023

Pakistani police arrest ex

https://arab.news/ymtb4 ISLAMABAD: Pakistani police arrested former Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday after a court sentenced him to three years in prison for illegally selling state gifts.The

https://arab.news/ymtb4

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani police arrested former Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday after a court sentenced him to three years in prison for illegally selling state gifts.The Election Commission of Pakistan last October found Khan guilty of not declaring proceeds from the sale of state gifts received during his tenure as prime minister from 2018 to 2022 and sought criminal proceedings against him.Khan, who has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, was convicted on Saturday by a district court in the capital Islamabad.His Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party confirmed in a statement to the media that he was taken from his residence in Lahore to the city’s Kot Lakhpat Prison.The party also said it had already appealed the verdict to the Supreme Court.“We will be challenging the verdict in the superior judiciary as we feel that justice has not been done in this case,” PTI vice chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi told Arab News, raising questions over the “hasty trial and proceedings” in the case.The conviction came just a day after the Islamabad High Court temporarily halted the district court trial.“Our applications and appeals have already been pending in the Islamabad High Court for adjudication in the Toshakhana (state gift repository) case, but the district court judge has given a judgment,” Qureshi added.The former cricket star, 70, was accused of misusing his premiership to buy and sell gifts in state possession that were received during visits abroad and worth more than 140 million Pakistani rupees ($635,000).Khan’s party said in a statement that his conviction was “tinted by political posturing” and “conspicuously reached at haste to keep (the) chairman out of (the) electoral race.”Khan was removed from office in a parliamentary no-confidence vote in April last year and has since led a popular campaign against the current government led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, accusing it of colluding with military leaders to oust him and keep him locked out of politics.Attaullah Tarar, Sharif’s aide on legal affairs, said the court had found Khan guilty of misdeclaration of assets in the statement of his wealth.“You know elected representatives have to declare their assets with the Election Commission of Pakistan,” he said in televised comments.“Anything you do not declare counts as misdeclaration and that accounts for three-year imprisonment.”