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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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US Top Diplomat Rubio, China’s Wang Speak in First Phone Call, China Says

Newly confirmed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks next to his wife Jeanette Dousdebes Rubio at the State Department in Washington, US, January 21, 2025. (Reuters)
Newly confirmed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks next to his wife Jeanette Dousdebes Rubio at the State Department in Washington, US, January 21, 2025. (Reuters)
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US Top Diplomat Rubio, China’s Wang Speak in First Phone Call, China Says

Newly confirmed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks next to his wife Jeanette Dousdebes Rubio at the State Department in Washington, US, January 21, 2025. (Reuters)
Newly confirmed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks next to his wife Jeanette Dousdebes Rubio at the State Department in Washington, US, January 21, 2025. (Reuters)

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi by phone on Friday, China's foreign ministry said, the first call between the two top diplomats since President Donald Trump's administration took office on Monday.

The call is the first publicly disclosed contact between an official in the second Trump administration and a Chinese counterpart.

According to a Chinese foreign ministry readout of the call, the two discussed US-China relations and Taiwan.

Wang told Rubio, a known China hawk, "I hope you would conduct yourself well and play a constructive role in the future of the Chinese and American people and in world peace and stability," according to the readout.

In his Senate confirmation hearing last week Rubio labeled China as the gravest threat facing the United States.

The US State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the talks, which come days after Trump said on Wednesday he was considering a 10% duty on Chinese imports because of Beijing’s role in the fentanyl trade.

On Thursday, at a speech to the World Economic Forum, Trump said he was expecting to do "very well" and to get along with China, but his inner circle including Rubio have different views on how to deal with China.

Last week, Xi and Trump agreed on a phone call ahead of the latter's inauguration for a second term, to create a strategic communication channel on "major issues."

During his first term, Trump quickly struck up a relationship with Xi and both men lavishly hosted each other in Florida and Beijing. But that did not stop ties deteriorating into a trade war that unleashed a series of tit-for-tat tariffs and uprooted global supply chains.

According to China's Foreign Ministry, Wang told Rubio that heads of state and China had "pointed out the direction and established the tone for China-US relations."

"The teams of both sides should implement the important consensus of the two heads of state, maintain communication, manage differences, expand cooperation, promote the stable, healthy and sustainable development of China-US relations, and find the right way for China and the United States to get along in the new era."

Wang also said that China has "no intention of surpassing or replacing anyone, but we must defend our legitimate right to development."

On Taiwan, he said that the island Taiwan has been part of China's territory since ancient times and China would never allow it to be separated from China.

"The United States has made a solemn commitment to pursue the one-China policy in the three Sino-US joint communiques and must not break its promise," Wang said.

"A major power should behave like a major power, should assume its due international responsibilities, should maintain world peace, and should help all countries achieve common development," he added, echoing statements US officials have made about China.