The three-year term for corruption that had been handed down to former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has been postponed, but it is not yet clear whether or not he will be released from prison.
He was granted bail by the Islamabad High Court, awaiting the outcome of his appeal of his conviction. However, he has been ordered to remain in detention until Wednesday, August 30, by a different court.
Suspension of Three-Year Corruption Sentence
Khan's attorneys claim that since he was deposed from power a year ago, more than a hundred accusations have been filed against him. These range from organizing violent demonstrations to disclosing national secrets. In connection with these allegations, many arrest warrants have been issued.
Khan, 70, claims the reasons for the accusations against him are purely political.
According to BBC, no date has been scheduled for the Supreme Court to hear the plea filed by the former prime minister's attorneys to prevent him from being imprisoned in any other case. They indicated the Supreme Court would not set a date until they heard the High Court's decision.
According to one of Khan's attorneys, "We are very hopeful he will be released. So far we have not been informed that he is arrested under any other case," Gauhar Khan stated.
On August 5, Imran Khan was given a three-year prison term for failing to report income from the sale of goods he received while in office (from 2018 to 2022). The value of the gifts was estimated to be over 140 million Pakistani rupees ($635,000). They reportedly consisted of Rolex watches, a ring, and cuff links.
His conviction disqualified him from running for office for five years. Khan is now detained in connection with a "cipher case" involving the suspected disclosure of a diplomatic cable.
The appeal that has temporarily halted Khan's punishment centers on the claim that he was not given an adequate opportunity to present a defense.
Another high court had already ruled that the sedition accusations against him were illegally brought, so this news comes at a good time.
It has been stated by the authorities that Khan's detention and subsequent ban from standing for public office had nothing to do with politics. They keep saying the judges who ruled in favor of Imran Khan's appeal were biased.
Also Read : Pakistan Supreme Court Questions Islamabad High Court Ruling on Ex-PM Involvement In Recent Riots
Arrests That Sparked Violent Protests
Approximately 85 kilometers (52 miles) from the capital Islamabad, Khan is being imprisoned at Attock jail, a modest institution in Punjab province with longstanding links to the military.
Several members of Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party have apparently been detained there in the past, as reported by the local media.
For months before his sentence, his supporters fought intense combats with authorities in an effort to keep him free.
For failing to show up to court on May 9, Khan was taken into custody. The arrest was deemed unlawful. He was freed three days later.
His detention, however, provoked demonstrations throughout Pakistan, some of which became violent and targeted military sites. The demonstrations allegedly featured many thousand of his followers, many of whom were subsequently imprisoned.
