Pakistani court sentences ex-PM Imran Khan to 14 years in prison

A Pakistani court on Friday sentenced already-jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan to 14 years in prison after finding him guilty of corruption, officials and his lawyer said.

His wife Bushra Bibi was also sentenced to seven years in prison in the same historic corruption case.

He was convicted, along with his wife, for a social foundation they established together, called Al-Qadir Trust.

Healer Bibi, recently released on bail, was arrested in court after her conviction, her spokesperson Mashal Yousafzai said.

The couple is accused of accepting a donation of land from a real estate tycoon in exchange for money laundered when Khan was in power.

Crackdown on protests in Pakistan leads to arrest of nearly 1,000 people

Thousands of people demanding the release of the former prime minister marched on Islamabad before fleeing amid a crackdown by authorities.

Prosecutors say businessman Malik Riaz was later allowed by Khan to pay fines levied against him in another case from the same laundered cash of £190 million ($373 million) that had been returned to Pakistan by the British authorities in 2022 for deposit. to the Public Treasury.

Khan and Bibi had pleaded not guilty.

Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party claims the land was not for personal gain but was intended for the spiritual and educational institution the former prime minister had created.

“While awaiting a detailed decision, it is important to note that the case of Al Qadir Trust against Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi lacks solid foundation and is doomed to failure,” PTI's foreign media arm said in a statement .

Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar told reporters that Khan's party could approach the higher courts to appeal the decision, and the former cricket star could also file a mercy petition with the President of Pakistan.

Omar Ayub, an aide to Khan, said the party would challenge the verdict in higher courts.

“I will not make any deals or seek any reparations,” Khan said after his sentencing.

Legal action 'aims to disqualify' Khan from office, UN says

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi. (AP: KM Chaudhary)

The verdict in the case was delivered by an anti-corruption court in a prison in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, where Khan has been imprisoned since August 2023.

The announcement of the verdict was delayed three times, most recently on Monday, amid reconciliation talks between the PTI and the government. The two sides have been at odds since Khan was ousted from office in 2022.

During his imprisonment, Khan faced dozens of cases ranging from accusations of corruption and abuse of power to inciting violence against the state after being removed from office in a vote of confidence parliamentary in April 2022.

He was either acquitted or had his sentence suspended in most cases, except for this one and another for inciting his supporters to ransack military installations to protest his arrest on May 9, 2023 .

His supporters have led several violent protest rallies since the May 9 incidents.

Imran Khan supporters defy lockdown and head to Pakistani capital

Security officials say they expect between 9,000 and 11,000 protesters while Imran Khan's party says the number will be much higher.

Khan has denied any wrongdoing and has insisted since his arrest in 2023 that all charges against him were a plot by rivals to prevent him from returning to office.

He was unable to run in the February elections and his party, the PTI, was paralyzed by widespread repression.

The PTI won more seats than any other party in the poll, but a coalition of parties seen as more susceptible to the influence of the military establishment pushed it out of power.

A UN panel of experts ruled last year that Khan's detention “had no legal basis and appeared to have been intended to prevent him from running for political office.”

Khan was previously found guilty of corruption, revealing official secrets and violating marriage laws in three separate verdicts and sentenced to 10, 14 and seven years respectively.

Under Pakistani law, he must serve the sentences concurrently, meaning he only serves the length of the longest sentence.

ABC/Son

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