HIBAPRESS
Pakistani channel "Geo News" reported today, Saturday, that a local court sentenced former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi to 17 years in prison each, over a corruption case related to the misuse of state-owned gifts and selling them below their actual value.
This ruling comes to further complicate the legal situation for Imran Khan, who has been in prison since August 2023 and faces dozens of judicial follow-ups since his dismissal from the prime ministership in 2022, including accusations of corruption and revealing state secrets. In contrast, Khan continues to deny all the charges against him, while his party confirms that these cases have a political background.
It was reported from Rana Mudassar Omar, Khan's family lawyer, to Reuters that the court issued the ruling without hearing the defense's pleadings, and sentenced Imran Khan and his wife to 17 years in prison with the imposition of heavy fines.
According to the judicial data, the couple was sentenced to ten years in prison with hard labor on charges of breach of trust under the Pakistani penal code, in addition to another seven years under anti-corruption laws, with a total fine of 16.4 million rupees for each of them.
This case is separate from a previous file related to state gifts, which was behind Khan's arrest in August 2023. He was also previously convicted of corruption for receiving gifts during his tenure as prime minister between 2018 and 2022, despite the suspension of the execution of a 14-year prison sentence issued last April, with the conviction remaining in place.
Imran Khan faces more than 200 cases since he was overthrown by a vote of no confidence in April 2022, as part of what he considers an organized campaign to remove him from the political scene and prevent him from participating in the legislative elections that took place on February 8th.
Khan and his wife were also sentenced to seven years in prison in a separate case related to violating the provisions of Sharia due to their marriage shortly after Bushra Bibi's divorce. Although a higher court recently acquitted him of the charge of treason, he is still in custody on the background of other judicial files.
