A Pakistani court on Friday sentenced former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife, who are already in prison on corruption charges, to 14 years in prison and seven years in prison, officials and lawyers announced.
This is another blow for the former prime minister, who has been in prison since 2023.
The couple are accused of accepting land gifts from a real estate tycoon in exchange for laundered funds during Mr Khan's time in power.
Prosecutors said businessman Malik Riaz was later charged in a separate case with 190 million British pounds ($240 million) of the same laundered funds, which were returned to Pakistan as deposits by British authorities in 2022. He said he had authorized Mr Khan to pay the fine. with the country's Ministry of Finance.
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Former Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan addresses the media in Lahore, Pakistan. (AP Photo/KM Chaudary, File)
Khan denies wrongdoing and has maintained that all charges against him since his arrest in 2023 were a plot by rivals to prevent him from returning to office.
Khan's lawyers said he laughed and his wife, Bushra Bibi, smiled as Judge Nasir Javed read out the verdict.
Khan and Bibi were taken into custody by prison officials after the verdict was announced, officials said. She was serving a prison sentence in another transplant case before being released on bail by a court in October. She recently led a rally demanding her husband's release.
Later, a post from Khan's account on the X platform called on his supporters not to panic over the ruling that Al Qadir University, built by his wife's charity, would also be taken over by the Punjab authorities.
“I will never accept this dictatorship. I will remain in solitary confinement as long as necessary to fight this dictatorship, but I will not compromise on my principles and the fight for true freedom for my country,” Khan said. Ta. I wrote. Khan's family said the posts were shared with his consent.
Defense lawyer Faisal Chaudhry said the court's decision could be challenged in a higher court.
Immediately after the verdict was announced, members of Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party rallied outside parliament in the capital, Islamabad, claiming the former prime minister had been unfairly punished.
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A security guard guards a vehicle outside a compound in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. (AP Photo/WK Yousafzai)
“This is a bogus case and we will take this decision to the Court of Appeal,” said Omar Ayub Khan, a senior party official not related to the former prime minister.
Imran Khan was ousted in a parliamentary no-confidence vote in April 2022, and has been found guilty of leaking official secrets and corruption for violating the Marriage Act in three verdicts so far, and has been sentenced to 10 years in prison and 14 years in prison, respectively. He was sentenced to seven years in prison. Under Pakistani law, he is to serve the sentences concurrently, meaning he will serve the longest sentence.
Some of Mr. Khan's supporters also gathered outside Rawalpindi's Adiala prison, chanting slogans against the government and demanding the release of their leader.
On Thursday, Information Minister Attaullah Tallah told reporters in Islamabad that there was “irrefutable evidence” against the Khans in a “huge corruption scandal”. Tarar said Khan did not even tell his own ministers about the funds returned to Pakistan from Britain.
Tarar also claimed that Khan gave profits to a businessman before building a vast new house in the eastern city of Lahore, but could not prove where he got the money to build it.
This latest development comes a day after Mr Khan's PTI party held important talks with representatives of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's government and demanded the release of all political detainees, including Mr Khan and other party leaders. It was announced on.
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Sharif became prime minister after elections in February 2024, which the PTI claimed were rigged.
