National

By AP (Associated Press)

Published : Jan 31, 2024, 12:02 PM IST

Updated : Feb 4, 2024, 10:40 PM IST

ETV Bharat / international

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan get 14-year prison sentence in third conviction

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife have been sentenced to 14 years in prison for the Toshakahana corruption case, while a special court convicted Imran Khan of divulging state secrets had been sentenced to 10 years in prison. with a new development, disqualifying him from contesting in any further elections in the state.

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan sentenced to 14 years in prison
Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan

Islamabad: Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife were sentenced on Wednesday to 14 years in prison for Toshakhana case corruption, his lawyer and prison officials said, a day after another special court convicted Khan of leaking state secrets and gave him a 10 year prison sentence.

He has also been disqualified as an MP, failing to contest in any future elections for the next 10 years.

The latest conviction and sentencing were Khan's third since 2022 when he was ousted from power. Khan and his wife were accused in the most recent case of retaining and selling state gifts when the former premier was in power.

The court also disqualified Khan for years from holding any public office, ahead of Pakistan's Feb. 8 parliamentary elections. Khan's lawyer Babar Awan said the former prime minister was convicted and sentenced in such a hurry that the judge did not wait for the arrival of his legal team.

He said Khan's basic human and fundamental rights had been violated, and that the latest conviction and sentencing would be challenged in higher courts. "It seems the judge was in a hurry to announce the verdict," he said.

Zulfiqar Bukhari, the chief spokesperson for Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, or PTI, also confirmed the conviction and sentencing. The latest development came three weeks after Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, were indicted on graft charges for retaining state gifts including jewelry and watches from Saudi Arabia's government, authorities said.

The latest court order was another blow to Khan. He and Bibi had pleaded not guilty when the charges were read out at a court at the prison in the garrison city of Rawalpindi earlier this month. Khan briefly attended the court hearing when the judge announced the verdict.

Khan was ousted from power in a no-confidence vote in Parliament in April 2022. Despite his conviction and sentencing, he remains popular and is currently serving time on a corruption conviction and has multiple other legal cases hanging over him.

Read More

  1. Ready to talk, says Imran amid gloomy prospects ahead of polls
  2. Pakistan ex-PM Imran Khan, former foreign minister sentenced to 10 years in prison in CYPHER case
Last Updated : Feb 4, 2024, 10:40 PM IST

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

...view details