Day Mr. Khan Outside of the court in Islamabad, a throng that included several prosecutors began yelling that Imran Khan was a thief as the verdict was announced. Several cases have been filed against Mr Khan in the last 16 months. Pakistan’s former prime minister has been arrested after being sentenced to three years in prison. His team says they will appeal the decision.
A caretaker government will take over in the lead-up to the elections as senior officials leave and thousands of supporters are detained on suspicion of participating in the protests that followed Imran Khan’s arrest. No date has been set for those elections, even though they are required by law to take place by early November. To get the latest on this, our Pakistan correspondent Caroline Davis is outside of Pakistan. First of all, Caroline, I would appreciate it if you could confirm or update the information I just read. We have also, of course, received confirmation that Imran Khan has been detained when he was at his residence in Zaman Park in Lahore. It is not yet clear where Mr. Khan will be taken to next but we were obviously anticipating this because just over an hour ago inside Court here we heard from the judge who found him guilty in this toshikana case this is about gifts State gifts that he’d received during his time in office that he’d then sold and the court found him guilty.
His team here told us that they didn’t expect him to resist arrest and that they were planning to appeal but of course it’s Saturday and the courts are not currently open so they can’t lodge those appeals until Monday which of course leaves us with the weekend requests. The Islamabad police to arrest him immediately. We then learned within a matter of 10-15 minutes or so that he had indeed been arrested in LA or as I said, it’s not entirely clear where he will be taken. In response to that arrest, there was a great deal of unrest throughout Pakistan. In particular, we saw military and intelligence buildings as well as neutral military buildings being targeted, which is especially surprising given Pakistan’s history of rarely seeing the military directly targeted. As a result, Imran Khan and his party were the targets of a significant crackdown that followed. Imran Khan, as you mention, was released once it was discovered that the May arrest procedure had been unconstitutional. Since then, he has been free, but many members of his party have defected, including many of his top leadership. Because of their alleged involvement in the protests that took place after May 9th, many of his supporters have also been detained and imprisoned. The next obvious question is how Pakistan will react now that the crackdown has discouraged people from taking to the streets. Will we see a similar sort of reaction, or will we not see a similar sort of reaction? You also indicated that the Pakistani Parliament would dissolve on August 9th, meaning that a caretaker administration will take over and rule until the elections. Since this is all happening in the context of the elections, this is why it is important. uh it’s a fact that’s floating on the surface if you look at the documents if you go through the documents yes Imran Khan did get the gifts from the state depository it was legal yes to that extent but then he sold them and did not declare the amount in his uh nomination papers and different papers that he was supposed to do that before the election commission. The response from his legal team was quite weak; there was apparently no defence. What do you make of the timing then because obviously as we just heard there our correspondent reporting outside of the court in Islamabad saying that you know we’ve got the backdrop of those elections coming up does has that played in possibly the decision for this to be carried out now well yes timing has been an issue for Pakistan’s Justice party Imran Khan’s party and things have been quite murky yeah with every passing day. I cannot say with certainty that Imran Khan was given a right to a fair trial in accordance with the Constitution, but it was quite likely that he would be found guilty as a result of this case, which would mean that he is not ineligible to serve in the parliament for the upcoming term. However, since it happened today, the trial was completed in a hurry. When it comes to his political future, it’s not looking good. What about the future of his party? Well, ever since the ninth may incident, I mean, ever since his party workers have run amok, his top tier leadership has either abandoned the party or they were forced to leave it, the workers are in disarray, and the majority of them are in hiding because people are afraid to talk to them. The military installations were assaulted, burned down, vandalised, and burned up. State institutions were attacked, which is something that has never happened before. Although top political figures have been removed from office in the past through the courts or in other unlawful and unconstitutional ways, no one has ever done this, but this time, after Imran Khan was arrested on May 9, his party members attacked military installations because he has been defending their actions ever since.
The straw that eventually broke the camel’s back, in my opinion, was the fact that the military sites he was attempting to safeguard. I’m really grateful for that. Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has been detained following three years in jail after being team declares that they will submit an appealing the judge’s decision now convicted him of omitting to declare He had money from selling things. State gifts in light of the ruling proclaimed a crowd in Islamabad, including a few prosecutors’ solicitors started yelling Imran Khan in a thief’s disguise outside the Court several lawsuits have been brought up against In May of this year, Mr. Khan’s 16-month period in this year held because of showing up in court as requested but then freed following the arrest was deemed unlawful, and ever since his Party has been dealing with a lot of strain from the numerous senior officials departing with hundreds of officials supporters were detained and charged with becoming active in the demonstrations that the arrest of Imran Khan or the The Pakistani government will fall. on August 9th, and an attendant In the lead-up, the government will assume charge. There is no scheduled date for the elections. even though their elections Constitutionally, they must occur. Let’s get the most recent by early November. our Pakistani reporter on this Outside of the court is Caroline Davis. where Islamabad Caroline is the first I’m unsure Would you please confirm or Update: In addition to the information I just read, we now know that Imran Khan has been detained. He was at his home in Zaman Park in Lahore when the police detained him. Our teams there have sent us pictures of the police arriving, as well as pictures of vehicles leaving Zaman Park carrying Mr. Khan. It is currently unclear where Mr. Khan will be taken, but we were aware of this because just a little over an hour ago, inside this court, we heard that Mr. Khan had been detained .He was found guilty of not declaring that money, and the judge sentenced him to three years in prison. He also ordered the Islamabad police to arrest him immediately. We learned that he had been arrested within 10 to 15 minutes, either in LA or, as I said, it’s unclear where he will be taken. about exactly what will happen next in Pakistan what will be the reaction to Imran Khan’s arrest as you mentioned on the 9th of May he was previously arrested and we did see a large amount of discontent across Pakistan in reaction to that arrest we saw in particular we saw military and intelligence buildings neutral military buildings being targeted now that is particularly surprising here in Pakistan that is something that Pakistan has not really seen during the course of its history for the military to be directly targeted and as a result we saw a large amount of Crackdown afterwards on Imran Khan and his party Imran Khan as you say was released are they after they found that the arrest against system While many members of his party have left the party, many of his senior leadership, and a large number of his supporters have also been detained and imprisoned because of their alleged involvement in the protests that took place after May 9th, so the obvious question now is how will Pakistan react? Will that crackdown prevent people from wanting to take to the streets? Will we see a similar sort of reaction?
