Pakistan Jailing of Former Prime Minister Imran Khan Challenged

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Summary:

  • Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan's imprisonment for three years is being challenged in court.
  • Khan's lawyers claim he is being held in deplorable conditions but remains in good spirits.
  • He was sentenced for not declaring money earned from selling state gifts during his time in office.
  • Lawyers argue that Khan did not receive a fair trial and raise concerns about judicial bias.
  • The legal team plans to file an appeal to suspend the sentence and address the conditions of his imprisonment.
  • Support for Khan appears to have been silenced, but he still holds substantial popularity.
  • The imprisonment has sparked debate over the fairness of the trial and potential political motives.


Lawyers for the former Prime Minister in Pakistan, Imran Khan, have been in court today challenging a decision over the weekend to jail him for three years. His lawyers say he is being held in deplorable conditions in jail but remains in good spirits. He was sentenced on Saturday for failing to declare money earned from selling state gifts whilst he was in office. After the verdict, he was taken from his home directly to prison. He's denied all the charges. Let's speak now from Lahore to Salman Safdar, a lawyer representing the former Prime Minister. Thank you so much for being here on the programme.




Reaction to Verdict and Unfair Trial


I'll come to today's meeting in just a moment but briefly, your reaction to what happened on Saturday. Well, it was indeed shocking, the modern manner in which this verdict has been announced. We would say that Imran Khan has not received a fair trial at all and he has been condemned unheard. The conduct of the judge has been most objectionable in the whole proceedings from the very outset. It was probably written on the wall that he has one agenda and that is to convict Imran Khan on the flimsiest of charges. There is a lot of resentment and a lot of reaction from the bar as well because lawyers and advocates were also maltreated during the proceedings. Not to talk about Imran Khan and the environment of the court, unpleasantries were exchanged.

Judge's Bias and Handling of Evidence


Our main concern regarding the judge was that there was an obvious bias on his spot which became apparent after his Facebook account was discovered which contained a lot of hate material against the former Prime Minister personally and his party. But in terms of the basic charge of not declaring money gained from selling state gifts, does he deny doing that? Yes, of course he denied that. Our main case has been that evidence has not been considered properly and appreciated properly and the judge quite shockingly in the middle of hearing the arguments just retired in his room and came back after 30 minutes with a 30 page written judgment, a handing down conviction of three years along with sentence. Now this is indeed very shocking because the trial was still under process and he denied Imran Khan producing defense evidence which was his right.

Legal Moves and Challenges


So in terms of legal moves, what is your next legal move in that case? Well it's a short sentence of three years and under the normal circumstances we would file an appeal in the high court for suspending the sentence. Now the difficulty is during the past three days almost two and a half days lawyers as well were denied excess meeting Imran Khan and seeking his signatures and authorization on the relevant documents. He has been taken away 300 kilometers away from Lahore kept in Attaq jail in the most inhumane conditions with denial of excess to his lawyers, to his family and today.

Conditions in Jail and Support


But members of your team have met him today, haven't they? Yes, finally this happened today at four o'clock and this was an interaction where our client revealed the conditions in which he's been kept. He signed the papers, he's been kept in a tiny room with deplorable conditions. There is no ventilation in the washroom and there is a lot of mosquitoes, a lot of insects crawling in the room but and this is Class C condition which is being given to him or of course deliberately just to settle political scores with him but he's resolute and in high spirits. Now Imran Khan only a couple of days ago called for peaceful protests, he said people shouldn't sit quiet.ly in their houses and there's been no sign of that. Is that an indication that his support there in Pakistan has effectively dwindled? Perhaps the support has been silenced, I would put it that way. He's still one of the most popular leaders in Pakistan with 80% of the masses supporting him.

History of Challenges and Political Isolation


Even prior to that you must be aware there was a life attempt on him in Vazirabad. He survived miraculously in that assassination attempt followed by that about 180 criminal cases, unprecedented political victimization against any political leader that we have witnessed. 180 criminal cases registered in a span of 10 years and almost on daily basis he was attending courts. Now even tomorrow we are due in seven different criminal cases all of which are registered on very flimsy charges of terrorism and insane people. The thing is military establishments though were attacked and that is what the authorities say they were clamping down on and that's in terms of their justification for all of those arrests but a final question about the elections that we are supposed to see in Pakistan is there any way do you think that the PTI his party can actually effectively take part in those elections now because quite a few of the leaders surrounding Imran Khan are either in hiding or have simply left the party?

Conclusion and Future Outlook


I have from what I know the political support and the political party has dispersed after the 9th May incident and I hardly see any political leaders meeting Imran Khan or around him. Now only time will come of course the agenda behind this conviction and behind these prosecutions were to politically isolate him and to delay the electoral process and in that they are quite successful. Saman Saptar we have to leave it there but thanks for joining us here on BBC News. Thanks for your time. Thank you.


The former Prime Minister's imprisonment has sparked controversy and raised questions about the fairness of his trial. Supporters argue that he remains a popular leader despite recent challenges, while critics point to concerns over due process and political motives. The legal battle continues as Imran Khan's legal team seeks to appeal the verdict and challenge the conditions of his imprisonment.

Location: London, UK

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