Pakistani police arrest ex-PM Imran Khan after court convicts him for graft

Police have arrested Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan, his lawyer said, after a court sentenced him to three years in prison for illegally selling state gifts.

On Saturday, a court convicted Khan in an asset concealment case, handing down a prison sentence that could see him barred from politics.

"Judge Humayun Dilawar announced that involvement in corrupt practices has been proven," Pakistan State TV said. Khan was not present for the hearing.

The Islamabad High Court issued the arrest warrant after convicting Khan, with police in Lahore moving quickly to take him from his home to the Pakistani capital.

Khan has denied any wrongdoing and in a pre-recorded statement on X (Twitter) platform on Saturday, he told his supporters, "I have only one appeal. Don't sit at home silently."

"My arrest was expected & I recorded this message before my arrest... I want my party workers to remain peaceful, steadfast and strong," he said in the video.

"You have to protest peacefully until you don't get your rights," Khan exhorted his supporters.

Appealing the conviction

The sentence relates to an inquiry conducted by the election commission, which found Khan guilty of unlawfully selling state gifts during his tenure as prime minister from 2018 to 2022.

Khan's political party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) said in a statement they had already filed an appeal in the country's Supreme Court over the district court case.

A PTI spokesman, Rauf Hasan, described the asset concealment trial as the “worst in history and tantamount to the murder of justice.”

The conviction came just a day after Pakistan's high court had temporarily halted the district court trial. It was not immediately clear why the trial had proceeded despite the high court decision.

Khan is facing over 150 cases brought against him since being ousted in April last year — charges he says are politically motivated.

But on Saturday, Information Minister Maryam Aurangzeb denied Khan’s arrest had anything to do with elections due to be held later this year. She said Khan had been given every opportunity to defend himself against the asset concealment charges.

“Instead Imran Khan used the time to delay the court proceedings and went back and forth to the high court and supreme court to halt this case,” she said.

Aurangzeb added that Khan has been "proven guilty of illegal practices, corruption, concealing assets and wrongly declaring wealth in tax returns.”

The 70-year-old cricketer-turned-politician was accused of misusing his premiership to buy and sell gifts in state possession that were received during visits abroad and worth more than $635,000 (140 million Pakistani rupees).