Pakistan Ex-PM Imran Khan’s Graft Conviction Suspended

The suspension of the conviction does not necessarily mean that Khan will be free to walk out of jail, or that he will be allowed to contest the national election due later this year, which is likely to be delayed several months.


(FILES) Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan (C) leaves after appearing in the Supreme Court in Islamabad on July 26, 2023. (Photo by Aamir QURESHI / AFP)

 

 

 

A Pakistan high court on Tuesday suspended former prime minister Imran Khan’s prison sentence for a graft conviction, a spokesman for his party told AFP, but it was unclear if he would be immediately released.

A spokesman for Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party said Islamabad High Court had overturned a lower-court decision this month imprisoning him for three years, a judgement which has barred him from contesting upcoming elections.

His lawyers said he was granted bail, but they feared the 70-year-old would be rearrested in relation to one of the more than 200 cases levelled against him since he left office in April 2022.

“We have filed a separate application requesting the court pass an order barring the authorities from arresting him in any other case,” Gohar Khan, one of the lawyers, told AFP.

“If authorities arrest him in any other case, it will be against his legal rights.”