A Pakistan district and sessions court on Saturday sentenced former Prime Minister Imran Khan to three years in prison for illegally selling state gifts. He was also disqualified from politics for five years.
The court imposed a fine of Rs 100,000 on Khan. He was arrested from his residence in Lahore shortly after the verdict was announced.
The court found Khan guilty of “deliberately submitting fake details” of the gifts he received from foreign officials to the Election Commission of Pakistan.
The case against Khan was filed by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) after it was alleged that he had retained gifts worth millions of rupees from the Toshakhana, a repository where presents handed to government officials from foreign officials are kept.
Khan has denied the allegations, saying that he had sold the gifts as per the rules and that everything had been declared to the authorities.
The verdict is a major blow to Khan, who has been facing a number of legal challenges since he was ousted from power in April.
He is also facing a separate case related to the alleged misuse of funds from the Al-Qadir Trust, a charity that he founded.
Khan’s arrest and conviction have sparked protests from his supporters, who have accused the government of politically motivated persecution.
