Pakistan's Imran Khan arrested after three-year prison sentence
Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan has been arrested after a court in Islamabad found him guilty of “corrupt practices” involving the sale of state gifts and sentenced him to three years in jail.
Police officers from the Islamabad force swooped in on the former international cricket star’s home in Lahore on Saturday and arrested him, taking him to Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat jail by helicopter.
“His dishonesty has been established beyond doubt,” judge Humayun Dilawar wrote in a court ruling.
“He has been found guilty of corrupt practices by hiding the benefits he accrued from [the] national exchequer wilfully and intentionally,” the judge said.
Chairman Imran Khan’s message:
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) August 5, 2023
My arrest was expected & I recorded this message before my arrest.
It is one more step in fulfilling London Plan but I want my party workers to remain peaceful, steadfast and strong.
We bow before no one but Allah who is Al Haq. We believe in… pic.twitter.com/1kqg6HQVac
In a video message released after his arrest, Khan called on his supporters “not [to] sit at home in silence” and stand out for him.
"My fellow Pakistanis, they will have arrested me and I'll be in jail by the time this message reaches you. I have just one request and appeal, that you are not to sit silently at home.”
"This is a war for justice, for your rights, for your freedom... chains don't just fall off, they have to be broken. You must continue peaceful protest until you get your rights,” said the former prime minister.
On Saturday, police in Punjab province said they arrested ten people who gathered to protest Khan's arrest.
“No protest has been reported in any other part of Lahore and elsewhere in Punjab, so far,” police said in a statement.
Back in May, Khan was arrested and briefly detained in Islamabad for the same case.
His arrest sparked deadly protests during which supporters of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party poured onto the streets and clashed with police.
The former premier has repeatedly said the mounting cases against him are politically motivated and intended to stop him from running for elections that are due to be held before the end of the year.
Khan had vowed to captain the country a second time after being ousted as prime minister last year.
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