Reuters
[Source: Reuters]
Police arrested Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan in Lahore on Saturday after a court sentenced him to three years in prison for illegally selling state gifts, potentially barring the opposition leader from contesting an upcoming election.
Legal experts say the guilty verdict reached by an Islamabad district court could eliminate Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s greatest rival in a national election expected to be held in November.
“Police have arrested Imran Khan from his residence,” Khan’s lawyer Intezar Panjotha told Reuters. “We are filing a petition against the decision in high court.
Lahore’s Police Chief Bilal Siddique Kamiana confirmed the arrest and told Reuters the politician was being transferred to the capital, Islamabad.
Khan’s political party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) said in a statement they had already filed another appeal to the Supreme Court earlier on Saturday.
The conviction came just a day after Pakistan’s high court had temporarily halted the district court trial. It was not immediately clear why the trial had proceeded despite the high court decision.
Pakistan’s information minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said in a broadcast statement that Khan’s arrest followed a full investigation and proper legal proceedings in a trial court. She said his arrest was unrelated to the upcoming elections.
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