<div><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><b>Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan remained in prison on Tuesday despite his graft conviction being suspended, his lawyers said, claiming that a "manipulation of justice" was keeping him behind bars.</b></span><br></div><div><br></div><div>Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party said the Islamabad High Court overturned a lower court's decision to jail him for three years, a judgment that kept him from contesting upcoming elections.</div><div><br></div><div>His lawyers said he was granted bail and they were initially hopeful he would be released from Attock Jail, a century-old prison around 60 kilometres (40 miles) west of Islamabad, where the 70-year-old has been held for three weeks.</div><div><br></div><div>However, they said on Tuesday afternoon Khan remained in detention because of a previous arrest, made in secret, over a case alleging he had leaked classified state documents.</div><div><br></div><div>One of his lawyers told reporters outside the prison, which was surrounded by patrolling police units, that Khan was "on judicial remand" and would appear before a special court in Islamabad on Wednesday.</div><div><br></div><div>"He was arrested prior to today's court ruling. The exact date of his arrest remains unclear," another lawyer, Gohar Khan, told AFP by phone.</div><div><br></div><div>Another, Muhammad Shoaib Shaheen, said "his legal team was intentionally left uninformed and kept in the dark".</div><div><br></div><div>"This constitutes a manipulation of justice," he said.</div><div><br></div><div>- 'Countless devotees' -</div><div>Khan's three-year sentence was handed down this month by a judge who found him guilty of failing to properly declare gifts he received while in office.</div><div><br></div><div>That was only one of more than 200 legal cases that have embroiled Pakistan's most popular politician since he was ousted by a parliamentary vote last year.</div><div><br></div><div>Khan, a former cricket star, has also been previously denied bail in at least nine other cases, including three in anti-terrorism courts and six in the district courts in Islamabad.</div><div><br></div><div>Rights monitors say authorities use vexing and repetitive legal proceedings as a tactic to quash dissent in Pakistan.</div><div><br></div><div>Pro-PTI lawyers chanted "Release Imran Khan!" and "Khan your devotees are countless!" outside court as initial news of his sentence suspension broke.</div><div><br></div><div>The party later said nine activists had been arrested outside Attock Jail.</div><div><br></div><div>- Khan behind bars -</div><div><br></div><div>The charismatic Khan claims his ousting and subsequent legal cases have been orchestrated by the powerful military establishment to deny him a second term.</div><div><br></div><div>Khan was also briefly jailed on graft charges in May, sparking days of civil unrest, but since then his PTI party has been targeted by a major crackdown that has vastly diminished his street power and seen most of his senior leadership jump ship or be locked away.</div><div><br></div><div>Islamabad said it was targeted by "anti-state" violence during the backlash over that arrest.</div><div><br></div><div>But rights groups say authorities used overly broad anti-terror laws to suppress PTI, while the domestic media reported pressure to censor or smear Khan on the airwaves.</div><div><br></div><div>While Khan was imprisoned this month, Pakistan's parliament was dissolved at the request of his successor Shehbaz Sharif to pave the way for a caretaker government that will usher in elections.</div><div><br></div><div>No date for the polls has been announced.</div><div><br></div><div>Khan surged to power in 2018 on a wave of popular support, an anti-corruption manifesto and the backing of the powerful military establishment.</div><div><br></div><div>When he was ousted in April 2022, analysts said it was because he lost the support of the same generals who handed him the keys to power.</div><div><br></div><div>He was replaced by a shaky coalition of the dynastic parties that have historically ruled Pakistan.</div><div><br></div><div>But, as an opposition politician, he waged an unprecedented campaign against the influential generals, who have staged at least three successful coups leading to decades of martial law. According to AFP reports&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas</div>