Pakistan's former PM Khan barred from public office in corruption case
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[October 21, 2022]
By Asif Shahzad
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan's former
Prime Minister Imran Khan was barred from holding public office after
the top election tribunal on Friday found him guilty of unlawfully
selling gifts from foreign dignitaries and heads of state, a lawyer and
a minister said.
The 70-year-old cricketer-turned-politician was accused of misusing his
2018-2022 premiership to purchase and sell gifts in state possession
that were received during visits abroad and worth more than 140 million
Pakistani rupees ($635,000).
Khan has denied the charges.
The tribunal was to give a detailed ruling later in the day saying how
long the former premier would be barred for.
"Khan has been disqualified on charges of being involved in corrupt
practices," Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar told a news conference.
Under Pakistani law, a legislator found guilty of corruption or misuse
of public office can be barred for up to five years.
Faisal Chaudhry, a lawyer in Khan's team, told Reuters the Election
Commission tribunal had no jurisdiction in the matter and that a
challenge would be filed in a high court.
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"It's an illegal and unconstitutional order," he said.
'CERTIFIED THIEF'
Khan's party spokesman Fawad Chaudhry urged supporters to come out on
the streets to "topple" the government.
Supporters gathered in different cities, blocking roads and streets, but
there were no reports of violence, officials said.
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![](../images/102122PIX/news_q1.jpg)
Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan
speaks during an interview with Reuters in Islamabad, Pakistan June
4, 2021. REUTERS/Saiyna Bashir/File Photo
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The ruling coalition that took over from Khan after his ouster in a
confidence vote earlier this year had filed the case before the
election commission.
"It is proved now that he is a certified thief," Khan's opponent
Maryam Nawaz, from the ruling Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz (PML-N),
told reporters in London in recorded comments telecast by local Geo
News TV.
The gifts included expensive watches given by a royal family,
according to government officials, who have alleged previously that
Khan's aides sold them in Dubai.
The government said the former premier also did not declare the
source of income used to purchase costly gifts which a prime
minister or his staff can buy via auction at prescribed rates.
"Imran Khan not only lied to the election commission by not
declaring his accurate assets and his sources of income, he also
lied to the people of Pakistan," Tarar said, terming the sale of
watches immoral and a diplomatic embarrassment.
"I mean you imagine that a friend from a brotherly royal family
gives you a gift and you sell it."
($1 = 220.3000 Pakistani rupees)
(Reporting by Asif Shahzad in Islamabad; Writing by Shivam Patel in
New Delhi; Editing by Alex Richardson & Simon Cameron-Moore)
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