Lawyers for former Pakistani PM Imran Khan are unable to reach him in jail, says spokesman

ISLAMABAD, Aug 6 (Reuters) – Lawyers for former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan were unable to reach him on Sunday after he spent the night in a jail near the capital following his arrest the day before on a corruption conviction, they said. spokesmen.

Khan was taken by police from his home in the eastern city of Lahore on Saturday and transferred to Attock prison on the outskirts of Islamabad, where a court convicted him on charges stemming from the sale of state gifts.

The conviction is likely to mean the cricket star-turned-politician will be disqualified from standing in a national election.

“Attock prison is a ‘No Go’ area for (his) legal team as well as the locals in the surrounding area,” said Naeem Haider Panjotha, Khan’s legal affairs spokesman, adding that they were unable to bring him any food or arrange key signing. legal documents.

Pakistan’s information minister referred a request for comment on Khan’s access to his lawyers to the provincial authorities in Punjab, where the jail is located. Punjab’s top information official did not respond to a request for comment.

Another Khan spokesman, Zulfi Bukhari, told Reuters his lawyers were waiting in the town of Attock, near the jail, and were unable to meet Khan all day, but were told by authorities to try again on Monday.

He said the delays could hamper his attempts to quickly appeal the lower court’s decision and apply for bail. He added that lawyers will be looking early Monday to set a time for the court to hear their request for Khan’s bail.

Bukhari said the former colonial prison did not have the facilities that a former prime minister would normally be entitled to in Pakistan’s prison system.

It was unclear if Khan would appear in court on Monday after a surprise decision by a lower court over the weekend sentenced him to three years in prison.

The arrest was the latest in a series of coups that have weakened Khan’s political position after he fell out with Pakistan’s powerful army and his party split.

His Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party said it had filed appeals in higher courts over the decision.

Bukhari said that more than 100 PTI supporters had been arrested trying to protest since Saturday and that although the party had initially called for peaceful protests across the country, they did not want anyone to risk arrest. Authorities have not confirmed the arrests and the information minister did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“We don’t want our workers to suffer more pain and our workers to be in prison and we don’t want our leaders to be in prison, especially at this time,” Bukhari said.

Thousands of Khan’s aides and supporters have been arrested since May, according to the Interior Minister. Many pro-Khan MPs were also arrested and distanced themselves from Khan, with some resigning from politics.

UPCOMING ELECTIONS

Khan’s arrest came days before the government was expected to dissolve parliament, which would normally lead to elections in November. But the government decided on Saturday to use the latest census as part of the electoral procedure, which could delay the vote.

Bukhari said that the main demand of the PTI was free and fair elections as soon as possible.

Britain’s Foreign Office said on Saturday it was closely monitoring the situation and supported democratic principles. The Pakistani government denies that Khan’s arrest is related to the election.

Legal experts say the conviction means Khan would likely be banned from politics for five years.

“Imran Khan’s political future looks bleak after his arrest and disqualification,” said Madiha Afzal, a fellow at Brookings’ foreign policy program.

The deputy chairman of Khan’s party, former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, took command of the PTI in his absence.

Bukhari said that the PTI planned to participate in the elections. They hoped that appeals would overturn the conviction and believed that Khan’s popularity in Pakistan would grow due to his imprisonment.

Reporting by Charlotte Greenfield in Islamabad; Additional reporting by Mubasher Bukhari in Lahore; Edited by William Mallard and Hugh Lawson

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