Crime & Justice

Pakistan’s ex-PM Khan moved to higher class prison

Islamabad, Sept 26 (EFE) – Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan was transferred to a higher class prison on Tuesday after a court said he was entitled to better facilities as a ” better status prisoner” due to being a former prime minister.

On Monday, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had ordered the authorities to transfer the detained former prime minister to Adiala Jail on the petition of his lawyer.

“Since the status of the petitioner is a better class prisoner, he is entitled to all the benefits provided to such prisoners,” the IHC said in its order.

According to the law, Khan is entitled to better class facilities as a former prime minister.

However, the court rejected his request to be provided with gym equipment.

“He has been shifted to the Adiala jail in Rawalpindi after court orders,” Ahmed Janjua, a spokesman for Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, told EFE.

The polititian had demanded his transfer from Attock prison in the northern province of Punjab, claiming that his dark, small cell was infested with flies and mosquitoes.

Television footage showed a Punjab police motorcade reportedly moving Khan alongside an ambulance as part of the motorcade.

The former prime minister was taken to the colonial-era central jail in Attock, some 85 km from the federal capital, Islamabad.

A former cricket star, Khan was arrested on Aug. 5 after being sentenced to three years in prison on corruption charges. He was found guilty of “deliberately submitting false details” to the Election Commission about gifts he received while in office.

Although his sentence was suspended on Aug. 29, a Pakistani court immediately ordered the former prime minister’s preventive arrest in a case involving the disclosure of state secrets.

The politician was ousted as prime minister last April in a no-confidence vote sponsored by his political rivals and has since led the opposition.

With more than 150 cases against him, Khan has openly accused the Pakistan Army of putting him behind bars and trying to disqualify him to prevent him from returning to power in the general elections scheduled for the last week of January 2024, as well as trying to eliminate his party by arresting many of his supporters.EFE

aa-daa/ics

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