A Pakistan court has sentenced former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife to 14 and seven years in jail respectively after finding them guilty of corruption, his lawyers and officials said.
The two were accused of accepting a gift of land from a real estate tycoon in exchange for laundered money when Mr Khan was in power.
The court has also fined Mr Khan 1 million rupees (£2,950) and ordered his wife to pay half that amount.
According to prosecutors, Mr Khan allowed the businessman Malik Riaz to pay fines that were imposed on him in a separate case out of the laundered amount of £190m ($240m). The amount was returned by the British authorities to Pakistan in 2022 to be deposited into the national Exchequer.
Mr Khan and his party have described the allegations, known in Pakistan as the al-Qadir Trust case, as politically motivated.
Speaking on Friday from inside Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail, where he has been held since his arrest in 2023, Mr Khan said: “Today’s verdict has tarnished the reputation of the judiciary. In this case, neither I benefited nor the government lost. I don’t want any relief and I will face all cases.”
He claimed “a dictator is doing all this”. “My wife is a housewife, who has nothing to do with this phoney case and she has been given this sentence to infuriate me,” Mr Khan said, according to a statement issued by his PTI party.
In January last year, it was announced that Mr Khan was convicted in three separate cases of selling state gifts, leaking state secrets and violating marriage laws and sentenced to 10, 14 and seven years respectively. All of these convictions have since been suspended or overturned, but Mr Khan was kept in custody in relation to dozens of other pending cases.
Authorities arrested Ms Bibi from the court premises on Friday.
An official from Mr Khan’s political party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) said they are waiting for the details but the case is “bound to collapse” in the absence of evidence implicating Mr Khan and his wife.
“Whilst we wait for a detailed decision, it’s important to note that the al-Qadir Trust case against Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi lacks any solid foundation and is bound to collapse. All evidence and witness testimonies confirm that there has been no mismanagement or wrongdoing. Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi are merely trustees with no further involvement in the matter,” the official said.
“This is a bogus case, and we will approach an appeals court against this decision,” said Omar Ayub Khan, a senior party figure.
The sentencing comes a day after Pakistan’s information minister Attaullah Tarar said there was “irrefutable evidence” against Mr Khan and his wife in the “mega corruption scandal”.
The minister said that the former prime minister did not inform his cabinet members about the money being returned by Britain and given back to Pakistan.
He alleged that Mr Khan built a lavish new house in Lahore city but could not prove where he found the money to finance it, saying this is because he had received it for giving benefits to the businessman.
On Thursday, Mr Khan’s party made fresh attempts to demand the release of all political prisoners associated with PTI, including Mr Khan, as they held talks with representatives from the Pakistan government.
