File Picture
A Pakistani excessive court docket will subsequent week take up a plea from former prime minister Imran Khan for the suspension of a three-year jail sentence on corruption fees, his lawyer stated on Wednesday.
Khan was jailed this month after his conviction for corruption after which barred from politics for 5 years, stopping him from contesting a basic election due late this yr.
The former cricket star denies the fees, saying they’re a politically motivated bid by his rivals to exclude him from the election.
“Our application with regard to suspension of Khan’s conviction has been fixed for August 22,” Khan’s lawyer, Naeem Panjutha, stated in a publish on messaging platform X, previously generally known as Twitter.
Panjutha stated he hoped the Islamabad High Court, which is able to take up the plea, would grant Khan bail.
Khan, 70, has been on the centre of political turmoil since he was ousted final yr as prime minister in a no-confidence vote, elevating considerations about Pakistan’s stability because it grapples with an financial disaster and pure catastrophe.
The corruption conviction stemmed from an accusation of unlawfully promoting state items that Khan and his household acquired throughout his 2018-2022 tenure as prime minister.
Khan has accused the highly effective military of making an attempt to undermine his political ambitions. The navy, which has for many years assumed the accountability of overseeing the nation’s political course, denies that.
His authorized crew and occasion say dwelling circumstances on the jail close to Islamabad the place he’s being detained are unsuitable given his standing as a former prime minister.
Authorities have stated Khan has the suitable to strategy a court docket to hunt higher circumstances.
