The Islamabad High Court has suspended former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s prison sentence for a corruption conviction.
A two-judge bench of the Islamabad High Court, composed of Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Tariq Mehmood, overturned a lower-court decision imprisoning Khan for three years and has ordered his immediate release.
“The copy of the judgment will be available shortly; all we are saying now is that Imran’s request has been approved,” Judge Farooq stated.
A court, on Saturday, August 5, 2023, sentenced the former Pakistani Prime Minister to three years in jail for what is known as the Toshakhana case, in which Khan is accused of illegally selling gifts from heads of state worth hundreds of millions of rupees.
The election commission has accused Khan of misusing his 2018-2022 premiership to unlawfully buy and sell gifts in state possession that were received during visits abroad that are worth more than 140 million Pakistani rupees ($500,000).
The gifts allegedly included watches given by a royal family, according to government officials, who have alleged previously that Khan’s aides sold them in Dubai.
Khan’s legal team filed a petition to appeal against the conviction which entailed a plea for temporary suspension of the trial court’s ruling at the Islamabad High Court on Tuesday, August 8, 2023.
Former Pakistani Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif expressed his displeasure with the Islamabad court’s order, saying Khan’s conviction was suspended and not terminated.
“When everyone knows what the decision will be before it is announced, it should be a matter of concern for the justice system. If a clear message is delivered by a higher court, what other choice does a subordinate court have?” Sharif stated on X.
He noted, if “thieves and state terrorists are facilitated, then from where (will) the common man get justice in the country?”
Meanwhile, Khan’s spokesperson, Raoof Hasan, said that he fears that Khan could be rearrested.
“Khan can be rearrested in nine cases where he was denied bail as he was in prison,” he said, explaining that Khan could not present himself in court while being “incarcerated”.
In order to prevent a potential rearrest, Khan’s lawyers have submitted a petition for a “blanket bail.”
“A blanket bail will ensure he (Khan)will not be rearrested in any other cases after the suspension of his [current] sentence,” Hasan told reporters.
The spokesman said the blanket bail would protect Khan “until he has been presented in a court of law and the matter has been dispensed with on the basis of merit.”
Following the announcement of the sentence suspension, Khan’s party; Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf called for his immediate release.
It is currently unknown if Khan will be released as there is another court order for him to be detained till August 30, 2023.
A special court in Islamabad, recently established to hear the cases under the Official Secrets Act, has already issued an order for Attock prison authorities to keep Khan in detention in connection with “cypher case”; a case pertaining to a missing diplomatic cable.
“You are hereby directed to keep him in the judicial lockup and produce him on 30.08.23 before this court,” the order read.
Khan Remains Disqualified From Electoral Politics
Given that the Pakistani constitution bars a convict from contesting elections, Pakistani lawyer, Mirza Moiz Baig, opined that Khan continues to remain disqualified from electoral politics.
Mirza Moiz Baig added that Khan remains “ineligible” to lead his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party.
“It is important to remember that only the sentence has been suspended, not the actual conviction,” the lawyer disclosed.
Another lawyer, Mian Dawood also said, “The main appeal against his three-year imprisonment is yet to be decided. If Khan does get an acquittal and not merely a suspended sentence, only then will he be able to contest the election.”
Pakistan is currently under caretaker government. Caretaker Prime Minister, Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar is running the day-to-day affairs till the upcoming election is held.
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