OUSTED Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has been handed a three-year jail sentence over corruption allegations.
An Islamabad court found him guilty of illegally selling state gifts – a charge the politician denies.
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Khan’s team says he will appeal the conviction.
A judge has ordered his immediate arrest and police arrested Khan in the eastern city of Lahore today, his lawyer said.
Its a fresh blow to Khan’s bid to return to power.
Legal experts say a conviction in the case could end Khan’s chances of participating in the national elections to be held in early November.
The cricketer-turned-politician was accused of misusing his premiership to buy and sell gifts in state possession that were received during foreign visits and worth more than £400,000.
The gifts allegedly included luxury watches given by a royal family, according to government officials, who have alleged previously that Khan’s aides sold them in Dubai.
Khan denies any wrongdoing.
A crowd outside the courtroom began chanting “Imran Khan is a thief” after they heard the ruling.
Since the former Prime Minister’s removal from power in April last year after a no-confidence vote, he has been slapped with over 150 legal cases.
The 70-year-old faces a plethora of allegations related to corruption, terrorism, contempt of courts and inciting people to violence over deadly protests in May.
He has claimed his ousting was illegal, the result of Western conspiracy and has heavily campaigned against the government of his successor, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif.
In May, Khan had been arrested in connection with another corruption case.
The ex-cricket star was arrested by agents from Pakistan’s anti-corruption body, and dragged out of his wheelchair by a huge crowd of cops in riot gear.
After the politician was whisked away, a scuffle broke out between the former premier’s supporters and police.
His lawyer was left injured, as were several cops and members of the public.
His furious followers then attacked government and military property across the country.
Khan again denied wrongdoing and was released on bail within days.
In November of last year, Khan accused the incumbent Prime Minister Sharif of orchestrating a plot to assassinate him after he was shot at a rally.
Khan, 70, was delivering a speech from his campaign truck in Wazirabad, in the east of the country, when a gunman opened fire.
Shocking footage shows the moment a hail of gunfire ripped through the former premier’s convoy – hitting him in the shin.
