The sentencing in the corruption case, scheduled for Friday, is the biggest Mr Khan faces over financial fraud, including the possibility that he accepted a land bribe in exchange for a 190 million British pound favor for a property tycoon. is included.
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The party of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan has held formal reconciliation talks with the government on Thursday, both sides said, aimed at defusing political instability in the South Asian country of 241 million people.
The meeting comes a day before a key court verdict in the land corruption case against the 72-year-old former cricket star turned politician.
The sentencing in the corruption case, scheduled for Friday, is the largest yet to face Mr Khan in terms of financial wrongdoing, in which he may have accepted a land bribe in exchange for 190 million British pounds to a property tycoon. be.
The case relates to the Al-Qadir Trust, which Mr Khan and his wife set up during his tenure. Prosecutors allege that Khan accepted the land as a bribe from a real estate developer in a sham. Mr. Khan’s party maintains that the land was not for personal gain, but as a spiritual and educational facility.
Khan’s ouster in 2022 has further heightened instability, worsening the situation with violent protests led by his party demanding his release and threatening economic recovery under a $7 billion IMF bailout. threatened.
“We have presented our demands to the government,” Khan’s aide Omar Ayub, who is leading the negotiations, told reporters. He said the government had agreed to party leadership talks with Khan in prison, but this should take place without any oversight.
The demands of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party primarily focus on the events that led to his arrest in August 2023 and the events that took place in 2023 when his supporters went on rampage within the army. This includes the creation of two judicial commissions to investigate protests, including those that have been debunked. offices and facilities.
Parliament Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, who is the facilitator of both parties, said he had received PTI’s list of demands.
“We will respond to the request within seven working days,” said Ilan Siddique, chief negotiator in Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government.
