Rawalpindi: A Pakistan anti-corruption court on Friday sentenced former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi in a high-profile corruption case, marking a major development in the country’s ongoing political turmoil.
Khan, who has been in custody since August 2023 and is facing around 200 legal cases, was handed a 14-year prison sentence, while Bushra Bibi was sentenced to seven years in connection with the Al-Qadir Trust case.
Conviction in Al-Qadir Trust Case
The anti-graft court, which convened inside Adiala Jail near Islamabad, convicted Khan and Bibi over their involvement in the Al-Qadir Trust, a welfare foundation they jointly established. The court ruled that the prosecution had proven its case, with Judge Nasir Javed Rana announcing the verdict and sentencing.
After the conviction, Bushra Bibi, who had recently been released on bail, was arrested at the court following the ruling, according to her spokeswoman Mashal Yousafzai.
Khan Rejects Charges, Calls It Political Persecution
Imran Khan, the leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, has repeatedly denied all charges against him, labeling them as politically motivated attempts to prevent his return to power.
“I will neither make any deal nor seek any relief,” Khan reportedly told journalists inside the courtroom after the verdict.
His party has claimed that the cases and the conviction are part of a broader strategy to silence him ahead of the country’s political future.
A History of Legal Battles
Since his ouster from power in 2022, Khan has openly criticized Pakistan’s powerful military establishment and launched an unprecedented campaign against its influence in politics.
Khan has faced multiple convictions, with two previous cases overturned and sentences in two others suspended. However, he remains behind bars due to pending charges in several other cases.
A United Nations (UN) panel had previously declared that Khan’s detention “had no legal basis” and suggested that his imprisonment was designed to disqualify him from contesting elections.
Impact on Pakistan’s Political Landscape
The verdict comes after Khan was barred from contesting in the February 2024 general elections, where his PTI-backed candidates won a significant number of seats but were blocked from forming a government due to a coalition backed by the military establishment.
Analysts believe the jail sentence is being used as leverage to pressure Khan into negotiating a deal with the military, possibly forcing him to step back from politics entirely.
With this latest conviction, the political crisis in Pakistan is expected to deepen further, as PTI supporters continue to challenge the fairness of the judicial process and Khan’s imprisonment.
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