Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan has been arrested after a court in Islamabad sentenced him to three years in jail and disqualified him from politics for “corrupt practices” involving the sale of state gifts.
Khan was picked up by police from his home in Lahore on Saturday after a court ruled on the Toshakhana case, in which he was accused of illegally selling gifts from heads of state worth hundreds of millions of rupees.
The judge found Khan had “deliberately submitted fake details” of the gifts to the court and had been involved in corruption. After expressing his displeasure that Khan’s lawyers were not in court, he sentenced him to three years in prison and ordered him to be banned from politics for five years.
“His dishonesty has been established beyond doubt,” the court order added.
Police surrounded Khan’s home and detained him almost immediately after the judgment was given. According to the state information minister, he was taken to Islamabad.
Khan’s lawyer, Intezar Hussain Panjutha, said they would be appealing against the ruling, calling it a case of “political victimisation”.
Source: Qatar News Agency