Former Pakistan prime minister sentenced to prison
Former prime minister Imran Khan of Pakistan was arrested on Saturday after a trial court sentenced him to three years in prison, a verdict likely to end his chances of running in upcoming general elections.
Police took Khan into custody from his home in the eastern city of Lahore soon after the court’s decision was announced in Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital.
The verdict is a climactic turn in a political showdown between Khan and Pakistan’s powerful military that has embroiled the country for over a year.
It comes on the heels of a monthslong intimidation campaign by the military aimed at hollowing out Khan’s political party and stifling the remarkable political comeback he has made since being ousted from office last year in a vote of no confidence.
Now, the prospect that Khan, a cricket star turned populist politician, will be disqualified from running in general elections — the next ones are expected this fall — has offered a major victory to a military establishment that appears intent on sidelining him from politics.
It has also sent a powerful message to Khan and his supporters, who have directly confronted and defied the military like few else in Pakistan’s 75-year history: The military is the ultimate hand wielding political power behind the government, and no amount of public backlash will change that.
“Imran Khan’s arrest marks a significant turning point in the state’s actions against PTI,” said Zaigham Khan, a political analyst and columnist based in Islamabad, using the initials of the former prime minister’s political party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. That effort seems “designed to hinder the PTI’s chances in the upcoming elections,” he added.
In its ruling Saturday, the trial court found the former prime minister guilty of hiding assets after illegally selling state gifts.
“The allegations against Mr. Khan are proven,” said Judge Humayun Dilawar, who announced the verdict in Islamabad. The court also imposed a fine of around $355.
The case is related to an inquiry by the country’s election commission, which found last October that Khan had illegally sold gifts given to him by other countries when he was prime minister and concealed the profits from authorities.
Khan has denied any wrongdoing. He and his lawyers had accused Dilawar of bias and sought to have the case transferred to another judge. They are likely to appeal this ruling.
In a statement, Khan’s party rejected the verdict, calling it “the worst example of political revenge.”
Members of the country’s governing coalition, led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, welcomed the outcome. In a statement, the country’s information minister, Marriyum Aurangzeb, hailed Khan’s arrest and denied that it was linked to “political persecution” or that it was part of a plot to prevent the former prime minister from running in the next elections.
“My message to Imran Khan is straightforward: Your time is up,” she said.
The verdict is the culmination of a nationwide political saga that has escalated since Khan was ousted in April 2022. In the months that followed, he drew thousands out to protests where he railed against the country’s powerful military establishment and accused Pakistan’s generals of orchestrating his fall from power — an accusation they deny.
Khan, who is facing an array of court cases, was briefly arrested this year in a different one. That arrest, on May 9, set off violent protests across the country, as well as attacks on military installations. Days afterward, the country’s top court declared that authorities had unlawfully detained Khan and ordered his release.
The protests channeling anger toward the military were widely considered to have crossed an unspoken red line of defiance — a rare rebuke in a country where few defy military leaders. Since then, Pakistan’s military establishment has staged an extensive crackdown.
Unlike when Khan was arrested in May, by Saturday evening there were no mass protests — a sign of the effectiveness of the military’s efforts to intimidate his supporters in recent months, analysts said.