Pakistan’s former Premier, Imran Khan has challenged his conviction on graft charges in a high court.
Naeem Panjutha, Khan’s lawyer disclosed that the petition to appeal against the conviction was filed at the Islamabad High Court on Tuesday, August 8, 2023.
On Saturday, August 5, 2023, Khan was convicted and jailed for three years on charges of selling state gifts unlawfully during his tenure as Prime Minister from 2018-22. Khan, who was not in present in court that day, has denied the charges, saying he did not violate any laws.
Police took him from his home in the city of Lahore, right after the court ruling and transferred him to the high-security Attock jail near the capital, Islamabad. The jail is known for holding convicted militants and the most hardcore criminals during trial proceedings.
Panjutha announced that the Islamabad High Court will hear the appeal on Wednesday, August 9, 2023.
Under a set procedure, the court has to admit the petition and fix it for hearing to start formal proceedings into the grounds cited by Khan’s lawyer to overturn the conviction.
A copy of the petition posted by Panjutha on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, states, “Being aggrieved and dissatisfied”, Khan has appealed to the high court to “set aside” the trial court’s order that convicted and sentenced him.
“We’ve submitted an appeal… our plea requests a temporary suspension of the trial court’s ruling and seeks bail,” Gohar Khan, one of Imran Khan’s lawyers told reporters.
Khan’s Legal Team Seek To Secure Him Better Conditions In Jail
Also, Panjutha told reporters outside the Islamabad High Court on Tuesday that they are also seeking better facilities for Khan through another petition which has been filed at the court.
The former Premier has been detained in a cell, which according to his lawyers lacks facilities entitled to political prisoners.
After being given access to the former Prime Minister in jail as he prepared to appeal against his graft conviction, Panjutha revealed on Monday that Khan is being held in a small, dirty prison cell.
Referring to conditions in the jail where he said he spent just under two hours with Khan preparing paperwork for filing his appeal, Panjutha said, “I met Imran Khan who told me that ‘they’ve put me in a C-class.'”
“It is a small room which has got an open washroom where he said there were flies in the daytime and insects in the night,” Panjutha added.
Political prisoners are entitled to better “B-class” facilities, including access to television, newspapers and books.
Since Khan’s conviction, members of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Inaf party have stated that the former Prime Minister was being politically victimised by the government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, a charge the government denies.
Khan was ousted in a no-confidence vote in April 2022 but remains the country’s leading opposition figure. It remains unclear whether he will be able to contest elections.
Under Pakistan’s laws, no convicted person is eligible to lead his party or contest elections, or hold any public office. Howeever, if Khan’s conviction is overturned by the Islamabad High Court, he will be allowed to contest in the upcoming elections.
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