Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife were sentenced on Wednesday January 31 to fourteen years in prison for corruption, in a case concerning gifts received when he was in power, local media announced.
This judgment comes the day after the sentencing of Imran Khan and Shah Mehmood Qureshi, former minister of foreign affairs, to ten years in prison for disclosure of classified documents, and a few days before the legislative and provincial elections of February 8, for which he was already ineligible. It was not immediately possible to determine whether the two convictions were cumulative or not.
Imran Khan was accused, with his wife Bushra Bibi, whom he married in 2018 a few months before becoming prime minister, of having received gifts while in power whose value he underestimated before reselling them at a high price. All gifts must be declared and only those worth less than a certain amount can be kept or purchased at an officially agreed price.
Accused in dozens of cases
They had pleaded not guilty during the reading of the charges before a court in Rawalpindi prison, where Imran Khan, who faces charges in dozens of cases, has been incarcerated almost since his arrest in August 2023 He was also declared ineligible for five years.
The current electoral campaign (the legislative and provincial elections will take place on February 8) has been marred by accusations of fraud and repression against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the party he founded.
Former cricket star, Imran Khan, who came to power in 2018 and was removed by a motion of no confidence in April 2022, enjoys immense popular support in Pakistan. But his campaign of defiance against the powerful military establishment was followed by a severe backlash.