Just one day after former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan took office, declared He was sentenced to 10 years in prison for mishandling classified documents, while another court sentenced him and his wife Bushra Bibi to 14 years in prison for corruption.
The new conviction against Khan comes from the Toshahana case, named after the Pakistani agency responsible for regulating gifts to politicians.khan and vivi accused the act of improperly storing expensive gifts from foreign countries and later selling some of them for cash; include A $2 million jewelry gift to Khan from Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Khan is already in prison, having been convicted on the previous Toshahana charges in August 2023. He was already banned from running for office for five years, but the new conviction extends the ban to 10 years. Khan and Bibi were also each fined approximately $3 million.
Lawyers supporting former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan hold a protest against Khan’s imprisonment in Lahore, Pakistan, on August 7, 2023. (AP Photo/KM Choudhary)
Khan accused the court of rushing the process to obtain a speedy conviction ahead of Pakistan’s elections on February 8, 2024. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Party (PTI) has called on voters to vote for the party’s list to express their disdain for the fraudulent proceedings against Khan, perhaps Pakistan’s most popular politician. There is.
“Why the rush? Even yesterday, the guilty verdict was announced in a hurry,” Khan said, referring to Tuesday’s special court case against him for mishandling documents in the so-called crypto case, to ridicule. asked the court.
Mr Khan was convicted in absentia after refusing to remain in court on Wednesday.
PTI condemned the case against Khan on Tuesday and Wednesday as “complete destruction of all existing laws of Pakistan in two days”.
The party said Wednesday’s corruption hearing was “another kangaroo trial in which Mr Khan and his wife were denied the right to defence”.
“Like Cipher, this case has no basis to be challenged in a higher court. It is shameful that the law is being completely ignored and ridiculed,” PTI said.
PTI leader Gohan Ali Khan, who is also a lawyer, said Bibi had “no connection” to the Toshahana scandal, even though none of the foreign gifts under investigation were registered against her. He criticized the court that handed down the sentence against Bibi. He said Bibi was only dragged into court “to put pressure on Khan Sahib”.
Meanwhile, the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party hailed Khan’s conviction as the downfall of a “confirmed Toshahana thief in front of the world.”
