Police arrested #Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan in the eastern city of #Lahore on Saturday, his lawyer said, after a court sentenced him to three years in prison for illegally selling state gifts.

The 70-year-old popular politician was taken into custody in the eastern city of Lahore and was being taken to a prison facility in the national capital, #Islamabad, where the verdict was announced, government and Khan representatives said.

Unless overturned by an appeals court, the conviction will disqualify Khan from national politics for five years and end his chances of contesting Pakistan’s next elections, scheduled for later this year, legal experts said, citing election laws.

Khan's political party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, said it had quickly challenged the verdict in the Supreme Court.

"It’s absolutely shameful and disgusting how a mockery of law is going on just because the wish is to disqualify and jail Imran Khan,” the PTI said in a statement.

The sentence relates to an inquiry by the country’s election commission, which found the former cricket legend guilty of unlawfully selling state gifts while serving as prime minister from 2018 to 2022.

https://www.voanews.com/a/police-arrest-former-pm-imran-khan-after-court-gives-3-year-prison-sentence-/7212799.html

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