Imran Khan challenges conviction; lawyer says ex-PM held in bug-infested jail cell

Following his conviction and arrest in a corruption case, former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan is reportedly being held in a cramped, insect-infested cell at the high-security Attock jail. The cell includes an open washroom, his lawyer has reportedly said.

Khan on Tuesday (August 8) challenged his conviction in the corruption case by a trial court, saying the verdict by a “biased” judge “was a slap in the face due process and fair trial and a gross travesty of justice”.

Khan, 70, was arrested on Saturday shortly after an Islamabad trial court found him guilty in the Toshakhana corruption case and sentenced him to three years in jail.

He has appealed against his conviction and the three-year prison sentence in a graft case by filing a plea at the Islamabad High Court, the Dawn newspaper reported. The application was filed by the former premier’s lawyers Khawaja Haris and Gohar Ali Khan.

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“The decision of the trial court in the Toshakhana case is against the law,” stated the plea seeking for the verdict to be annulled. The petitioner’s counsels have requested the high court to issue an order for the release of the cricketer-turned-politician by suspending the sentence pending the decision on the central appeal.

Khan’s attorney Naeem Haider Panjotha on Monday said the 70-year-old Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman has been provided C-class facilities in the jail in Punjab province. He said the jail cell where the former captain of the country’s World Cup-winning cricket team is being held was infested with flies and bugs.

“He is in a small room which has an open washroom,” Panjotha said after meeting Khan in prison on Monday. “The PTI chairman says he is ready to spend his whole life in jail,” the lawyer was quoted as saying by Geo News.

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Panjotha said Khan told him that police did not show him an arrest warrant and tried to break the door of his wife’s room when they were at his home in Lahore. He met Khan for one hour and 45 minutes in the presence of a jail official to get his signatures on legal paper for launching appeals against the former premier’s conviction.

The lawyer told the media that Khan informed him that he has been kept in a dark room with an open toilet, frequented by flies during the day and ants at night. “I have been kept in a dark room with no television or newspaper available. Nobody is allowed to meet me as if I am a terrorist, Panjotha quoted Khan as saying.

He was shifted to Attock jail in the city of Attock in Punjab province, despite the court order directing authorities that he be sent to Adiala prison in Rawalpindi.

The court ruling on Saturday came as a blow to Khan and has put his political future in jeopardy. The verdict came as Pakistan is heading for general elections later this year, with the current National Assembly set to complete its term on August 12.

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The cricketer-turned-politician has been accused of illegally selling state gifts for profit worth USD 497,500. Khan has denied wrongdoings, saying he legally bought the gifts from Toshakhana, a government-owned treasure house.

This is the second time in three months that Khan has been arrested. Earlier, he was arrested on May 9 in Islamabad from the high court’s premises in the Al-Qadir Trust corruption case, sparking violent protests by his supporters.

Khan faces more than 140 cases across the country and charges like terrorism, violence, blasphemy, corruption and murder.

(With agency inputs)