Former Prime Minister and opposition leader Imran Khan was arrested from his Lahore residence after a court found him guilty of corrupt practices during his tenure. The district court in Islamabad sentenced him to three years in prison on corruption charges and also banned him from holding any political office for the next five years.
Despite denying the allegations, Khan has the option to appeal the verdict. However, his arrest is likely to heighten tensions, considering his supporters’ past actions when he was last arrested in May.
Khan’s party, the Pakistani Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), raised concerns over the trial’s fairness, stating that witnesses were not given sufficient opportunities to testify, and their legal team had limited time to present arguments. In contrast, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb defended the due process and asserted that the arrest is unrelated to any upcoming elections.
Notably, Khan has faced multiple charges, including mutiny and murder, in over 100 cases. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) is also investigating a multi-million-dollar property deal involving Khan and a real estate tycoon.
The arrest comes ahead of the next elections, and numerous key leaders have already abandoned PTI, posing challenges to the party’s prospects without Khan as its star campaigner.
In response to the arrest, PTI’s Secretary-General Omar Ayub Khan called for peaceful protests, highlighting that it is every Pakistani’s constitutional right.
The political landscape in Pakistan has been in turmoil since Khan’s removal through a parliamentary vote of no confidence last year, and this recent arrest is expected to further impact the country’s political situation.
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