Khan receives maximum sentence, barred from politics for five years

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
9 Aug 2023 00:27

The former Prime Minister receives the maximum sentence in terms of political practice.

Former Prime Minister Imran Khan (AFP)

The Pakistani government banned former Prime Minister Imran Khan from politics for five years, just days after announcing a three-year prison term against the popular leader over "corrupt practices", Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing a senior official.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) issued an order to "disqualify" Khan for five years, which is the maximum period a convicted individual can receive under Pakistani law and as defined by the ECP.

"Imran Ahmad Khan Niazi is disqualified for a period of five years," the ECP order said, as per the news site.

"We knew this was inevitable," Khan's aide Zulfikar Bukhari told Reuters, stressing that the party will challenge the decision in the high court.

"We're highly confident it will be reversed," Bukhari said.

An appeal filed by the former Prime Minister's legal team will be looked into by the Islamabad High Court on Wednesday, his lawyer Naeem Panjutha said.

Khan, who has denied all allegations, was escorted by police from his home in Lahore last Saturday, after a ruling in the Toshakaha case came out, in which he was accused of illegally selling gifts worth hundreds of millions of rupees originally intended for the state.

Intezar Hussain Panjutha, another lawyer of Khan, argued that the ruling will be appealed against and called the case "political victimization”.

“Khan was not given an opportunity to defend himself and say his side of the story,” he said, adding, “We wanted to provide witnesses in his favor but he was not allowed this opportunity. Khan was not given a fair trial.”

According to Reuters, the petition described the conviction as "without lawful authority, tainted with bias."

It said the court had rejected a list of witnesses for the defense a day before reaching its verdict, calling this a "gross travesty of justice, and a slap in the face of due process and fair trial."

Fueling instability

As Pakistan country suffers an economic crisis, the ousting of the widely-popular Khan last year represented a major challenge to the Asian country's political scene.

All eyes should be focused on the upcoming November elections after placing Khan out of the race for now, South Asia Institute director at the Washington-based Wilson Center, Michael Kugelman, told Reuters.

Any delay in the elections would lead to putting more fuel on the already-burning political environment and exacerbate public outrage, Kugelman warned.

"That volatility and uncertainty could have implications for political stability but also the economy if foreign investors and donors become reluctant to deploy more capital in such an environment," he said.