Pakistan court grants relief to Imran Khan in corruption case

Imran Khan will continue to be imprisoned despite a Pakistani high court’s decision to stay his sentence on corruption allegations on Tuesday. A judge had already mandated his custody in another case. Since being removed from office in a parliamentary vote of confidence in April 2022, the 70-year-old former cricket star has been at the centre of a political crisis. The problem has gotten worse as a result of Pakistan’s worst economic circumstances in decades. After receiving a three-year prison sentence for illegally selling state gifts while serving as prime minister from 2018 to 2022, Khan was put behind bars on August 5. He is also ineligible to run in elections for five years due to the conviction. On Tuesday, a court order said the sentence was suspended. “We feel that the applicant is entitled to the suspension of sentence and be released on bail,” it said. On social media, Khan’s attorney Naeem Panjutha also made the announcement of the suspension, writing, “God be praised.” Despite the court’s decision to grant him bail, he will nonetheless remain in custody because a judge had previously ordered his incarceration in a different case of disclosing state secrets. According to a court document seen by Reuters, the judge ordered the government to present Khan before him on Wednesday. The prohibition against Khan running in elections will also not be lifted by the suspension of the corruption term as long as the conviction is upheld. Although a caretaker administration was appointed this month and national elections are scheduled for later this year, the voting process will probably take longer than expected. Khan’s appeal petition had argued that because he was found guilty in a summary trial without being given the chance to defend himself, the sentence should be immediately suspended until the outcome of his conviction. Khan allegedly disregarded dozens of summonses and arrest orders for months before the court hastened the trial, according to the prosecution and Khan’s political opponents. The former prime minister was charged with disclosing the details of a private cable that Pakistan’s envoy to the US had received and using them for political gain, according to a Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) case that Reuters was able to access in the state secrets case. Khan’s top advisor and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has already been detained and questioned about the situation. Khan claims that the cable demonstrates that his dismissal came at the US government’s request. He claims that the US pushed Pakistan’s military to overthrow his administration because of a visit Khan made to Russia just before the US-led invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. That has been refuted by Washington and the Pakistani military. Khan’s downfall was caused by his deteriorating relations with the ruthless military, which typically elects the nation’s leaders. Khan’s potential reversal of his graft conviction is subject to a thorough judicial hearing, according to attorney Abdul Moiz Jaferii. “(Khan) being left at liberty is now hindered by him being required by the police and relevant investigation agencies in the multitude of other cases instituted against him,” Jaferii said. Khan is accused of coordinating violent protests that occurred after his original detention in May, as well as corruption, aiding murder, treason, and other offences. He is also facing hundreds of other counts. He refutes each and every accusation, calling them cases with political motivation. Khan’s party has demanded that he be released right away. “Arresting him in any other case will cause further damage to our national integrity and repute of judicial system,” Khan aide Zulfikar Bukhari said on social media. “Let the innocent be free!” (With agency inputs)