Former Pakistani PM Imran Khan sentenced to prison

A Pakistani court has sentenced former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan to three years in prison and a $1,200 fine, Geo News reports. Judge Humayun Dilawar found the allegations proven and dismissed the defense’s motion that they be inadmissible.

According to the prosecution, Khan was charged with corruption and using the Al-Qadeer Trust, a family fund, to steal 50 billion Pakistani rupees (about $175 million) from the budget in the creation of Al-Qadeer University. In addition, Khan is accused of selling foreign gifts to himself as head of government in the amount of 140 million Pakistani rupees ($635,000) and hiding information about these transactions.

Authorities tried to arrest Khan on this charge back in May, but his detention then led to mass protests in the country, as a result of which at least 2,000 people were arrested and five were killed. As a result, the Supreme Court of Pakistan declared Khan’s arrest illegal and transferred him under its jurisdiction, after which the ex-premier was released on bail.

Now Khan’s party occupies 30 of 342 seats in the lower house of the Pakistani parliament and is the largest opposition force. Khan himself was the prime minister of Pakistan from 2018 to 2022 and was removed from power after a vote of no confidence was announced. He was accused of being corrupt, pursuing an ineffective economic policy and allowing uncontrolled inflation.

According to Khan himself, the reason for the removal was the corruption of his political opponents, against which he fought, and pressure from the United States, dissatisfied with his rapprochement with Russia.

Khan’s verdict can be regarded depending on the political tastes of the observer, says Gleb Makarevich, a junior researcher at the Center for the Indian Ocean Region at IMEMO RAS. The former prime minister had his own arguments as to why he considered the gifts to himself as prime minister his personal gifts.

From the expert’s point of view, there is reason to believe that Khan’s imprisonment is part of the preparations for the elections, the National Assembly will be dissolved very soon and parliamentary elections will be held in the country no later than November. Khan and his “Movement for Justice” are the main rival of the ruling coalition and they do not want to allow him to the elections, Makarevich believes. Existing exit-polls show that Khan and the forces supporting him are leading in the polls.

At the same time, the Supreme Court can once again change the decision of lower instances, and its judges are considered sympathetic to Khan, the expert says. Today, unlike in April 2022, the protests in support of the ex-premier are less massive, since then the behavior of the authorities looked treacherous. Now the verdict has been handed down following a lengthy investigation, and there are certain legal grounds for prosecuting Khan, Makarevich concludes.