Islambad: After being found guilty of corruption and disqualified from running in the upcoming elections, the former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan was reported to be in good spirits despite the challenging conditions in jail on Monday.

After being found guilty in one of the more than 200 cases he has faced since being removed from office by a vote of no confidence in April 2022, the former international cricket star was apprehended on Saturday and taken to prison.

Although there were a few small, scattered demonstrations, including one outside the Lahore High Court where a few dozen people gathered, Khan's street power has significantly decreased since the government cracked down three months ago and arrested thousands of his supporters.

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In order for his team to move forward with a number of legal challenges, a lawyer met Khan on Monday at a century-old jail on the outskirts of historic Attock city, about 60 kilometres (40 miles) west of the capital, to obtain power of attorney.

According to Khan's spokesman Raoof Hasan, "He is being held in abhorrent conditions not fit for any human, but he is in good spirits."
"Tell the people that I will not budge on my principles," he commanded.

The 70-year-old is being held in a so-called "C-class cell," where there is only enough space for a prayer mat and a mattress on the floor. There is little access to daylight, and the summer heat is tempered by a fan but not an air conditioner. Hasan

Khan granted attorneys power of attorney, enabling them to apply for bail on his behalf and to make an argument for moving him to a "A-class cell."

We're optimistic that we'll be able to get bail, that the judgement will be overturned, and that the disqualification will be lifted, said Hasan.

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Khan was found guilty of failing to properly disclose gifts he received while in office and given a three-year prison sentence at a court hearing on Saturday that he did not attend.

Khan is prohibited from running for office by the sentence, despite the fact that many politicians, including current Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his brother, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, have overturned or recovered from convictions to run for office.

Days before the end of its regular term, Parliament is scheduled to be dissolved on Wednesday, giving the interim administration 90 days to hold elections.
The release of the nation's most recent census data over the weekend has led to speculation that the vote may be postponed.

Azam Nazeer Tarar, the law minister, warned that there could be a delay in the election of up to two and a half months because constituencies would need to be redrew in light of the new census.

Following Khan's arrest and three-day detention in connection with the same case in May, there was deadly violence as tens of thousands of his supporters took to the streets and fought with police.

It also sparked a crackdown that resulted in almost all of his top leaders being detained or forced into hiding, forcing the party to rush to establish a new governing body.

Both elections, which were held in Khan's stronghold of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, saw his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party come in second place to an independent candidate.
His imprisonment won't affect his popularity, according to Hasan.
He is the representative of the people, so the establishment has every right to talk to him.

Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, stressed "the need to respect the right to peaceful assembly," according to his deputy's press release to reporters on Monday.

In addition, he called on "all parties to abstain from violence" and the Pakistani government to "respect due process and the rule of law," according to Haq.
A small group of lawyers and PTI supporters gathered outside the High Court in the eastern city of Lahore, where Khan was detained on Saturday, to protest against his conviction.

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"God willing, we lawyers will continue to stand firm against this illegal and unlawful ruling like a solid wall," Irfan Faiz declared.
Police dispersed a few dozen lawyers' protest in nearby Gujranwala, and about 100 party workers demonstrated in Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

Even on social media, there have been far fewer posts mentioning Khan's name than there were after his first arrest, which marked an upsurge in outrage.

Usama Khilji, a columnist, told AFP that the reason for the lack of outrage following the first arrest of PTI employees was "the full-throttle crackdown on PTI workers." The coalition government's hastily passed harsh laws, combined with the arrests of PTI workers after Imran Khan was detained in May, have chilling effects on Pakistani citizens.