A Pakistani court has recently handed down prison sentences to the country’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife. Imran Khan has been sentenced to 14 years, while his wife has received a 7-year sentence after being found guilty of corruption, according to officials and the couple’s lawyer.
It’s yet another blow for the former premier who has been behind the bars since 2023.
The couple are accused of accepting a gift of land from a real estate tycoon in exchange for laundered money when Khan was in power.
Prosecutors have alleged that a businessman named Malik Riaz was permitted by Khan to pay fines on his behalf, using laundered money totaling 190 million British pounds ($240 million). This money had been repatriated to Pakistan by British authorities in 2022, with the intention of depositing it into the national exchequer.
Omar Ayub Khan, a senior party leader unrelated to the former prime minister, has denounced the case as spurious, vowing to challenge the court’s decision through the appeals process.
Imran Khan was ousted in a no-confidence vote in parliament in April 2022, had previously been convicted on charges 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 is to serve the terms concurrently — meaning, the length of the longest of the sentences.
Some of Khan’s supporters were also present outside the Adiala prison in the city of Rawalpindi, and they chanted slogans against the government, demanding the release of their leader.
On Thursday, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar told reporters in Islamabad that there was “irrefutable evidence” against Khan and his wife in the “mega corruption scandal.” Tarar said that Khan even did not tell his own Cabinet members about the money that was returned to Pakistan by Britain.
Tarar also claimed that Khan built a new sprawling house in the eastern city of Lahore after giving benefits to the business tycoon, and that he was unable to prove that from where he got the money from to build it.
The latest development came a day after Khan’s PTI party held a crucial round of talks with representatives of the government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to demand the release of all political detainees, including Khan and other party leaders.
Sharif became prime minister following the February 2024 election, which PTI claims was rigged.
