Former Prime Minister of Pakistan and chairman of the opposition Justice Movement Party (JMP) Imran Khan has not shown up for an Islamabad District Court hearing on his foreign gifts sale case. This was reported Tuesday by The Express Tribune.
According to the daily, the former prime minister's lawyers pointed out that Khan "refrained from appearing in court" due to his poor health and the "disability" he got from the November 2022 assassination attempt on him.
On the same day, Khan's representatives petitioned the Islamabad High Court to quash the warrant of arrest without bail previously issued by the Metropolitan District Court for the former head of the Islamic Republic's government due to the JMP leader's repeated failure to appear at court hearings in his case.
In October 2022, the Election Commission of Pakistan suspended Khan and barred him from holding government office for five years because of his "improper" filing of financial income statements as prime minister. The decision came amid suspicions that Khan embezzled at least 36 million Pakistani rupees ($137,700) from the sale of foreign gifts and in connection with an ongoing investigation against him.
The former Pakistani head of government was ousted on April 10, 2022, following a vote of no confidence. Shortly before that, Khan claimed that his government had been threatened by the US and the local opposition. The former prime minister also repeatedly claimed that the political process against him was inspired and financed from abroad.
GSV "Russia - Islamic world"
Photo: official website of the President of the Russian Federation
Based on materials from TASS