ISLAMABAD: Former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan has asked his supporters “not to sit at home silently and continue protesting peacefully” in a pre-recorded video message, which was released by his party shortly after he was arrested in Lahore on Saturday in a case involving the sale of state gifts.
In October last year, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) found Khan guilty of not declaring proceeds from the sale of state gifts he received as the prime minister from 2018 to 2022. The case has popularly come to be called the Toshakhana case. After its verdict, the ECP sought criminal proceedings against the former premier from the Islamabad High Court (IHC).
On Friday, the IHC temporarily halted the trial and asked a lower court to look into whether a legal complaint filed by the country’s election commission, as part of an inquiry against Khan, constituted criminal proceedings. But, the lower court in a surprise verdict sentenced Khan to three years in prison, following which the police arrested him from his residence in Lahore and transferred him to the city’s Kot Lakhpat prison, his party said in a statement.
Shortly after the arrest, Khan's party issued his pre-recorded video message in which the ex-premier urged his supporters to stay peaceful, but keep protesting for their rights.
“My Pakistanis, by the time this message will reach you, I will be arrested and put in jail, so I have only one request and an appeal from you that you must not sit at home silently,” he said, in the pre-recorded video message shared on his official account on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter.
“You have to continue protesting peacefully until you get your rights, and your biggest fundamental right is to choose a government through your votes.”
The ex-premier said he was not engaged in the ongoing political struggle for himself but for the "sake of the nation and the future of the generations to come."
“If you don’t stand up for your rights, you will live your lives like slaves,” he said. “This is a battle for justice, for your rights, and for your freedom. And no one would serve freedom to you on a platter.”
Meanwhile, Khan's party filed a petition in the Lahore High Court and demanded that the ex-premier be produced before the court and set free, terming his detention “illegal and unlawful.”
Earlier in the day, Additional District and Sessions Judge Humayun Dilawar ruled that the charges against the former prime minister were proven, and in addition to sentencing him to three years in prison, a fine worth Rs100,000 was also imposed on him for concealing details of the state gifts he received.
Khan and his lawyers were not present in the courtroom when the judge announced the verdict. The judge directed his staff that a copy of the court order be sent to the Islamabad police chief for the execution of the court orders.
The former cricket star, 70, was accused of misusing his premiership to buy and sell gifts in state possession that were received during visits abroad and worth more than 140 million Pakistani rupees ($635,000).
Khan's party said the defense was not given a chance to present witnesses, neither was it allotted time to complete arguments in the case.
“We will be challenging the verdict in the superior judiciary as we feel that justice has not been done in this case,” PTI vice-chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi told Arab News, raising questions over the “hasty trial and proceedings” in the case.
“Our applications and appeals have already been pending in the Islamabad High Court for adjudication in the Toshakhana case, but the district court judge [still] issued a judgment.”
Qureshi said the party would convene a meeting of its core committee to mull a strategy following the arrest of Khan.
Attaullah Tarar, PM Shehbaz Sharif’s aide on legal affairs, said the court had found Khan guilty of "misdeclaration" of his assets in the statement of his wealth.
“You know elected representatives have to declare their assets with the Election Commission of Pakistan,” Tarar said in televised comments. “Anything you do not declare counts as misdeclaration and that accounts for three-year imprisonment.”
This is the second time Khan has been arrested this year. On May 9, he was taken into custody from inside an Islamabad court after the country’s anti-corruption watchdog ordered his arrest in a graft case, which led to violent protests across the country by his supporters.
