Title: Imran Khan Still Banned from Participating in Pakistan Elections

Naime Haider Bangoth, the lawyer for former Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan and a spokesperson for legal affairs, announced that his client remains ineligible to run in the elections after a court today, Thursday, rejected a plea to suspend a previous conviction in a criminal case. The court's decision came on the eve of the deadline for submitting nomination papers for the local and general elections scheduled for February 8. Khan, the 70-year-old former cricket star, has been facing a political crisis since his ousting from the premiership in a parliamentary no-confidence vote in April 2022. He was sentenced to three years in prison for illegally selling government gifts during his tenure from 2018 to 2022. Khan denies any wrongdoing and claims the charges are politically motivated. He is seeking to overturn that conviction, which prohibits him from participating in elections for five years. He stated on platform X, "Imran Khan's request to suspend the decision in the Tosha Khana criminal case has been rejected; thus, he remains ineligible (to participate in the elections)."