Pakistani police arrested Pakistani former Prime Minister Imran Khan at his residence in the eastern city of Lahore on August 5, shortly after a court in the capital, Islamabad, sentenced him to three years in prison for unlawfully selling state gifts during his term in 2018-2022.
Leaders of Khan's Islamist party, Tehrik-e Insaf (PTI), condemned the arrest and called for peaceful protests throughout the country, although initial reports did not indicate any signs of significant unrest.
Khan, a former cricket star and the country's main opposition leader, has been at odds with Pakistan's powerful military establishment ever since he was ousted in a no-confidence vote in April 2022.
He has rejected the more than 150 corruption cases opened against him as politically motivated.
In a message on social media recorded before his arrest but posted afterward, Khan urged his party colleagues and supporters to remain "calm and strong."
"My arrest was expected so I recorded this message before my arrest.... I want my comrades to remain calm, steadfast, and strong," Khan said.
Khan was arrested in May in connection with a separate corruption case, sparking deadly mass protests by his supporters before he was released on bail.
The PTI issued a statement saying that an appeal has been filed at the Supreme Court.
If the Islamabad district court's ruling is upheld by the Supreme Court, the 72-year-old Khan could be banned from running again in elections later this year.
Separately, Pakistan’s law minister said on August 5 that the upcoming elections will be conducted using a new census, a move that could delay the vote by several months until early 2024.
Nazeer Tarar told Geo News TV that it could take to 120-165 days to complete the process and draw to establish new constituency boundaries. He said the decision was made at a meeting of Council of Common Interest that included representatives from federal and provincial governments.
The census has set the population at 241.49 million.
Earlier, Information Minister Maryam Aurangzeb denied Khan's arrest had anything to do with the election. Khan has been "proven guilty of illegal practices, corruption, concealing assets, and wrongly declaring wealth in tax returns," Aurangzeb said.
Khan, who still enjoys huge popularity as the main opposition leader, was wounded in a gun attack in November while leading a political march toward Islamabad.
Khan has claimed that he was ousted from power as part of a plot by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the United States. Both have denied involvement in the no-confidence vote that removed him.
Khan, who initially enjoyed the support of the military, has lately said that Pakistan needs to transition from a state dominated by security institutions into a democratic state focused on looking after the welfare of its 231 million people.
"Today we must realize that if we don’t change, our future will be in danger," Khan told RFE/RL in a wide-ranging interview in June, adding that his country won't be able to move ahead if it fails to "turn into a real democracy and uphold the rule of law."
SEE ALSO: Former Pakistani PM Imran Khan Accuses Powerful Army Of Crackdown, FailuresFour military dictators have directly ruled Pakistan for nearly half of its 75-year history. The military has dominated weak civilian governments during democratic periods, which typically ended with military coups. Powerful army generals have created and dismantled political parties.