Court sentences ex-Pakistani prime minister to three years in prison and fine

An Islamabad court found Imran Khan, former Prime Minister of Pakistan and leader of the opposition Justice Movement (JZM) party, guilty of corruption and sentenced him to three years in prison and a fine of 100,000 rupees. About it informed Dawn newspaper.

During the hearing, the trial court ruled that the charges against the former prime minister had been proven. The verdict was passed in the case of the sale by the politician of gifts received from foreign delegations from the Toshakhan state store. Khan himself was not present in court, the newspaper notes.

The former prime minister of Pakistan was charged in the case on May 10 after the country’s electoral commission opened a criminal case against him for hiding information about gifts. On the same day, the court arrested Khan for eight days, after which his supporters attempted to storm a number of military buildings, and also plundered the residence of a high-ranking army general in the city of Lahore. As a result of the riots, at least five people were killed, and 1,900 citizens were detained in two days of protests.

On May 11, Khan’s arrest was declared illegal by the country’s Supreme Court. According to Rauf Hassan, the official representative of the politician, he was detained even before the court hearings, in violation of all the rules. Ex-premier then released bail.

Khan was accused of misappropriating funds from the Al-Qadir Trust, a family foundation that funded the creation of Al-Qadir University. According to investigators, Khan and his wife embezzled 50 billion Pakistani rupees (about $175 million). In addition, he was accused of selling expensive gifts received from foreign delegations, with the subsequent embezzlement of 36 million Pakistani rupees ($127,700). The ex-premier himself denies all accusations and calls them politically motivated.

Imran Khan has served as prime minister since 2018, he was removed from power in April 2022 by parliament. Then 174 out of 342 deputies voted for it, with the necessary 172. According to the ex-premier, foreign states, in particular the United States, were behind his removal.