Pakistan ex-PM Imran Khan’s graft conviction suspended

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A Pakistani court docket on Tuesday suspended former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s latest conviction on corruption prices, his lawyer Naeem Panjutha mentioned, although it was unclear whether or not this could result in his launch from jail.

He has been on the centre of political turmoil within the crisis-ridden nuclear-armed state since his ouster in a parliamentary vote of confidence in April 2022, and his relations with Pakistan’s highly effective generals have deteriorated badly over the previous yr.

Khan was imprisoned on August 5 after being sentenced to a few years in jail for unlawfully promoting state presents throughout his tenure as prime minister from 2018 to 2022. As a results of the conviction, and with a nationwide election anticipated within the coming months, Pakistan’s Election Commission additionally barred Khan from contesting elections for 5 years.

“The sentence has been suspended,” Panjutha mentioned on messaging platform X, previously generally known as Twitter.

Khan’s authorized workforce lodged the enchantment towards his conviction on the grounds that he was convicted with out being given the proper to defend himself.

The court docket additionally ordered Khan’s launch on bail, one other considered one of his attorneys, Shoaib Shaheen, instructed reporters exterior the court docket. But it stays unsure whether or not he can be freed as there are court docket orders for his arrest in different instances.

Khan faces dozens of instances, together with prices of abetment to homicide, leaking state secrets and techniques and orchestrating violent protests.

He has already been arrested in reference to one other case, on prices of leaking state secrets and techniques and compromising nationwide safety.

It is unclear how the ban on his contesting elections can be affected with the suspension of his sentence. National elections are due later this yr, however they’re more likely to be delayed a number of months.

The suspension marks one other win for Khan and comes a day after the Balochistan High Court dismissed sedition prices towards him, saying that they had been improperly filed.