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Pakistan’s Imran Khan Arrested After Court Sentences Ex-Pm to 3 Years Jail

FILE PHOTO: Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan speaks with Reuters during an interview, in Lahore, Pakistan March 17, 2023. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan speaks with Reuters during an interview, in Lahore, Pakistan March 17, 2023. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro/File Photo
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Pakistan’s Imran Khan Arrested After Court Sentences Ex-Pm to 3 Years Jail

FILE PHOTO: Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan speaks with Reuters during an interview, in Lahore, Pakistan March 17, 2023. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan speaks with Reuters during an interview, in Lahore, Pakistan March 17, 2023. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro/File Photo

Police arrested Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan in the eastern city of Lahore on Saturday after a court sentenced the opposition leader to three years in prison for illegally selling state gifts.

Legal experts say the guilty verdict reached by a district court could end Khan's chances of contesting national elections that have to be held before early November.

"Police have arrested Imran Khan from his residence," Khan's lawyer Intezar Panjotha told Reuters. "We are filing a petition against the decision in high court.

Lahore's Police Chief Bilal Siddique Kamiana confirmed the arrest and told Reuters the politician was being transferred to the capital, Islamabad.

Khan's political party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) said in a statement they had already filed another appeal to the Supreme Court earlier on Saturday.

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's arrest and detention for several days in May over a separate case had sparked intense political turmoil and deadly clashes had erupted between Khan supporters and police.

The latest arrest comes in the lead up to an election expected to take place in the next three months. Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has proposed that parliament be dissolved on Aug. 9, three days before the end of its term, according to political, paving the way for a general election by November.

Pakistani media and a Reuters witness described police surrounding Khan's residence in Lahore on Saturday after verdict was released.

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 has denied any wrongdoing.

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 140 million Pakistani rupees ($635,000).

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Russia Says French Citizen Pleads Guilty to Illegally Collecting Military Details

People walk on the Red Square outside the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, 02 July 2024. The temperature in Moscow exceeded 32 degrees Celsius. EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV
People walk on the Red Square outside the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, 02 July 2024. The temperature in Moscow exceeded 32 degrees Celsius. EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV
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Russia Says French Citizen Pleads Guilty to Illegally Collecting Military Details

People walk on the Red Square outside the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, 02 July 2024. The temperature in Moscow exceeded 32 degrees Celsius. EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV
People walk on the Red Square outside the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, 02 July 2024. The temperature in Moscow exceeded 32 degrees Celsius. EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV

Russian investigators said on Wednesday that French researcher Laurent Vinatier, who was detained last month and accused of failing to register as a foreign agent while illegally collecting sensitive military information, had pleaded guilty during questioning.

Vinatier, an expert with long experience of working in Russia, was shown last month being arrested in a central Moscow restaurant by masked officers from the Federal Security Service (FSB), the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB.
He is accused of failing to register as a foreign agent and intentionally collecting military information which could be used by foreign intelligence services to damage the security of Russia, Reuters reported.
French President Emmanuel Macron denied that Vinatier, an employee of the Center for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD), a Swiss-based conflict mediation group, worked for the French state. Macron described his arrest as part of a disinformation campaign by Moscow.
"The French citizen has pleaded guilty in a criminal case on illegal collection of information in the field of Russian military activities," Russia's Investigative Committee said in a statement.
"During the interrogation, he admitted his guilt in full."
A representative of HD had no immediate comment.
Russian investigators said that Vinatier had for several years failed to comply with the Russian law on foreign agents and had collected military information at meetings with Russian citizens.
The Investigative Committee said that seven witnesses who Vinatier had tried to collect military information from had been questioned - and that it had recordings of some of their meetings.
"A linguistic forensic examination has been scheduled based on audio recordings of these meetings," the committee said.
In a statement following Vinatier's arrest, his employer HD said: "In the course of HD’s activities as an impartial and independent mediation organization, our people work around the world and routinely meet with a wide range of officials, experts and other parties with the aim of advancing efforts to prevent, mitigate and resolve armed conflict."
Vinatier, 47, could face up to five years in prison. He was placed in pre-trial custody until Aug. 5, despite a request to free him endorsed by the French embassy.