Lawyers for Pakistan’s Convicted Imran Khan to Meet Him in Jail 

Lawyers, who support Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan, hold a protest against Khan's imprisonment, in Lahore, Pakistan, Monday, Aug. 7, 2023. (AP)
Lawyers, who support Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan, hold a protest against Khan's imprisonment, in Lahore, Pakistan, Monday, Aug. 7, 2023. (AP)
TT
20

Lawyers for Pakistan’s Convicted Imran Khan to Meet Him in Jail 

Lawyers, who support Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan, hold a protest against Khan's imprisonment, in Lahore, Pakistan, Monday, Aug. 7, 2023. (AP)
Lawyers, who support Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan, hold a protest against Khan's imprisonment, in Lahore, Pakistan, Monday, Aug. 7, 2023. (AP)

Lawyers for Pakistan's jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan will be allowed to meet him on Monday before they file an appeal against a graft conviction that has landed the former cricket star in jail, one of his lawyers said.

Khan, 70, has been at the heart of political turmoil since he was ousted as prime minister in a vote of no confidence last year, raising concern about stability in the nuclear-armed country as it grapples with an economic crisis.

Police took Khan from his home in the city of Lahore on Saturday and transferred him to a jail in Attock district, near the capital Islamabad, where a court convicted him of graft charges arising from the sale of state gifts.

The conviction, which Khan rejects as politically motivated, likely means he will be disqualified from running in a general election due by November.

"The jail authorities have given us a time to meet Imran Khan at 12:30 p.m. (0730 GMT). We've reached Attock jail," one of his lawyers, Naeem Panjhuta, said, adding that an appeal against the graft conviction would be filed after Khan completed paperwork.

Khan's legal team is also appealing to authorities to secure him better conditions in jail, Panjhuta told reporters in Islamabad earlier.

He said Khan had been classified as "C-class" prisoner although by rights he should be allocated an "A-class" cell.

Political prisoners are entitled to better facilities, including television, newspapers and books.

"As per our information, Khan has been kept in C-class," Panjhuta said.

A government spokesperson did not immediately respond to request for a comment.

Khan's arrest was the latest in a series of blows that have weakened his political standing after he fell out with the powerful military and his party splintered.

Ever since his ouster, Khan has been campaigning for a snap election and organizing protests, which led to significant violence on May 9, raising tension with the military.

Khan accuses the military and his political opponents of plotting against him to block him from the election. The military, which has ruled Pakistan for about half its history, denies that.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is expected to call this week for the dissolution of parliament paving the way for a general election by November.

The political crisis has played out alongside an economic one.

Last month, the International Monetary Fund's board approved a $3 billion bailout for Pakistan to help it tackle an acute balance of payments crisis and dire shortage of central bank reserves.



Iran Says Will Not Hesitate to Defend its Nuclear Program

HANDOUT - 10 February 2025, Iran, Tehran: Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian delivers a speech during a rally at Tehran's Azadi (Freedom) Square. Photo: Mehdi Bolourian/Iranian Presidency/dpa
HANDOUT - 10 February 2025, Iran, Tehran: Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian delivers a speech during a rally at Tehran's Azadi (Freedom) Square. Photo: Mehdi Bolourian/Iranian Presidency/dpa
TT
20

Iran Says Will Not Hesitate to Defend its Nuclear Program

HANDOUT - 10 February 2025, Iran, Tehran: Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian delivers a speech during a rally at Tehran's Azadi (Freedom) Square. Photo: Mehdi Bolourian/Iranian Presidency/dpa
HANDOUT - 10 February 2025, Iran, Tehran: Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian delivers a speech during a rally at Tehran's Azadi (Freedom) Square. Photo: Mehdi Bolourian/Iranian Presidency/dpa

Iran has defended its nuclear program and will not be hesitant to continue doing so, Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday, a day after Israel and the US vowed to counter Iran's nuclear ambitions.
"Iran's peaceful nuclear program is ongoing, and has been for the last three decades, based on Iran's rights as a member in the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons... definitely we will not show any weakness in this regard," Reuters quoted him as saying.
Israel and the United States are determined to thwart Iran's nuclear ambitions and its influence in the Middle East, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday after meeting US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Jerusalem.
Rubio said: "Behind every terrorist group, behind every act of violence, behind every destabilizing activity, behind everything that threatens peace and stability for the millions of people that call this region home, is Iran."