ISLAMABAD (AP) – Pakistan former Prime Minister Imran Khan jailed addressed court officials on Thursday, saying the parliamentary elections held earlier this year were stolen from his party, which he claimed was the victim.
There was no immediate comment from the government on Khan’s claim. Before his arrest, Khan had accused Pakistan’s Election Commission of turning his party’s success into defeat. The commission has repeatedly denied allegations of fraud in the February 8 election.
“It was the biggest robbery committed at the behest of the public,” Khan told the High Court via video link.
It was his second appearance since serving a three-year prison sentence for corruption in August, and the first time Khan has been heard in open court.
The hearing before the High Court in Islamabad related to Khan’s appeal in a case over transplant laws, which were amended in 2022 and which the former prime minister said were aimed at keeping him behind bars.
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party won the most seats in the February 8 election but did not have a simple majority to govern. Khan’s party refused to form a coalition government, freeing up the bounty for his political rivals, including the party of another former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, to form the government.
Khan, a former cricket star, turned Islamist politician and served as prime minister from 2018 was deposed in a vote of no confidence in April 2022. However, he remains a popular opposition figure and millions of his supporters have been waiting for him since August, when he was arrested after a court convicted him of corruption.
His appearance in court on Thursday was not live-streamed by order of the court. It deprived Khan’s millions of supporters of the chance to see him.
During the hearing, Khan told the judges that he was being held in solitary confinement in a prison in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, where he is currently serving multiple prison sentences.
Khan also complained that he was not given the necessary materials to prepare arguments nor allowed to meet with his lawyers. Chief Justice Qazi Faez Esa, however, restrained him from commenting on the election, saying it was a different matter and the court was hearing a case regarding changes in graft laws.
The case was later adjourned for a week and the court directed authorities to let Khan meet his lawyer.
