Former Pakistani PM Imran Khan imprisoned in timing aligned with upcoming elections

Imran Khan, the former Prime Minister of Pakistan and leader of the leading opposition party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), was detained at his residence by police after being sentenced to a three-year prison term for corruption by an Islamabad court.

This follows a temporary arrest in May over corruption charges, which led to clashes between his supporters demanding his release and security forces.

The court found Khan guilty of deliberately misrepresenting gifts received during his tenure in government to the Election Commission.

This is Khan’s first definitive conviction after a year of managing to avoid arrest by securing bail in multiple cases against him.

Specifically, Khan is accused of failing to declare gifts he refrained from transferring to Toshakhana, a repository for gifts received by government officials from foreign dignitaries.

These charges began last October when the Pakistan Election Commission found Khan guilty of not declaring profits from the sale of state gifts received during his term as Prime Minister from 2018 to 2022, leading to a criminal process against him.

PTI, however, has disputed the verdict, arguing that it was politically motivated, based on fabricated evidence, and did not allow Khan adequate opportunity to present witnesses or gather enough evidence in his defense.

The party insists the verdict was expedited to exclude Khan from the upcoming elections.

Elections are anticipated later this year following Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s decision to dissolve the National Assembly on August 9th.

PTI has warned that it will challenge the verdict in court.