Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan talks to Fox News Digital
Imran Khan, ousted Prime Minister of Pakistan, discusses the situation that could see him being jailed by the country he recently led.
Pakistani police arrested the country’s former prime minister Imran Khan after a court sentenced him to three years.
"The district Court has indicted Chairman PTI Imran Khan . . . citing an affidavit based on falsified facts," a spokesman for Khan told Fox News Digital. "However, it's important to mention there was no chance given to present witnesses, neither was time allotted to round up arguments meant to finish by the end of the day, today."
The spokesman alleged that the judge had "conspicuously" reached his decision "at haste" to prevent Khan from contesting the upcoming electoral race.
"An appeal in the Supreme Court has already been filed," the spokesman explained, claiming that the high court has denied Khan’s team the right to pursue the case through "another court" following objections they raised.
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Legal experts agree that the Islamabad High Court verdict will prevent Khan from contesting the elections in November, removing current Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s greatest challenge to re-election.
Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan (C) leaves after appearing in the Supreme Court in Islamabad on July 26, 2023. (Aamir Qureshi/AFP via Getty Images)
Following Saturday’s verdict, Khan released a pre-recorded statement, telling his supporters that the video would likely reach the public by the time of his arrest.
"I have only one appeal: Don’t sit silently at home," Khan said in the video posted to Facebook. "I am struggling for you and the country and your children’s future."
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Khan’s spokesman provided photos and video that appeared to show protests against Khan’s arrest, but Fox News Digital could not verify them. Reuters reported that response immediately following the calls for protest from Khan and his party had been met with a muted response.
Pakistani forces take security measures at the entry point to the city as the motorcade of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan arrives in Islamabad following Khan arrest at his residence in the eastern city in Lahore on August 5, 2023, in Islamabad, Pakistan. 23. (Muhammad Reza/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Khan, a former cricket player of international renown, won office in Pakistan's parliament in 2002 and became prime minister in 2018. Pakistan passed its first and only no-confidence vote against a sitting prime minister last year to remove Khan from power.
Government officials earlier this year alleged Khan and his wife had received land worth millions of dollars as bribes, as well as an antique watch, a gold pen, a ring and cufflinks he received as gifts while prime minister then allegedly sold for personal profit, The Guardian reported.
Lawyers and supporters of former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan gather and shout slogans against Khan's arrest outside his residence in Lahore on August 5, 2023. Khan was found guilty of graft on August 5 and sentenced to three years in jail, state TV said, in a case involving gifts he received while premier. (Rana Irfan Ali/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Police arrested Khan and held him at a police facility in Islamabad, where supporters gathered around in protest, occasionally clashing with the police. The supporters then attacked several military assets in protest over his arrest, vandalizing an air base, several garrisons and the house of a general, leading to Khan’s temporary release.
In a recent interview with Fox News Digital – one of the last given before his arrest – Khan admitted that he knew it was "a question of time" before the court would order his arrest.
Lawyers and supporters of former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan gather and shout slogans against Khan's arrest outside his residence in Lahore on August 5, 2023. Khan was found guilty of graft on August 5 and sentenced to three years in jail, state TV said, in a case involving gifts he received while premier. (Rana Irfan Ali/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Khan alleged that the allegations arose following a split between Khan and the country’s military command. He told Fox News Digital that ex-army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa "engineered the whole thing," using intelligence agencies to divide Khan’s party and keep them distant from allies."
The fresh verdict determined that Khan had made "false statements" about acquiring state gifts, which amounted to "corrupt practices" to hide "benefits he accrued from national exchequer willfully and intentionally."
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"He cheated while providing information about gifts he obtained from Toshakhana (the state gift repository) which later proved to be false and inaccurate," the court said.
Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said Khan's arrest had followed a full investigation and proper legal proceedings in a trial court. She said his arrest was unrelated to the upcoming elections.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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