Imran Khan, ex-Pakistan PM, sentenced to 14 years in jail in corruption case

Rawalpindi: A Pakistan court on Friday sentenced former Prime Minister Imran Khan to 14 years in prison in a controversial graft case, alongside convicting his wife Bushra Bibi, News agency AFP reported.

His party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf stated that the conviction was part of pressuring him into silence.

Khan, who has been in custody since August 2023 having charged with around 200 cases, told reporters inside the court room that ‘I will neither make any deal nor seek any relief.’

The court, convening inside the jail in Islamabad where Khan is held, convicted the former cricketer and his wife in connection with a welfare foundation the Al-Qadir Trust that they set up.

Judge Nasir Javed Rana handed a 14 year sentence to Khan and seven years to Bibi, claiming that ‘The prosecution has proven its case. Khan is convicted’.

Though recently released on bail, Bibi was arrested after the conviction.

Khan said the cases against him are politically motivated in order to keep him from returning to power.

Analysts reportedly pointed out that using jail term Khan was pressured into accepting a deal with military to stay away from politics.

Since being ousted from power in 2022, Khan has openly criticised the country's powerful generals.

Two of the four previous convictions against him have been overturned and sentences in other two remain suspended.

Meanwhile, a UN panel last year said that there was no ‘legal basis’ for Khan’s detention, adding that it ‘appears to have been intended to disqualify him from running for political office’.

Khan was barred from participating in the polls held in February and his party faced crackdown.

When results came out, PTI won more seats than any other party but a coalition of parties, favoured by the military establishment, came to power.