Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi have been sentenced to 14 years in jail for “corruption”, the second sentence handed to him in two days just a week before national elections.
On Wednesday, an accountability court in Rawalpindi, which deals with corruption cases, also slapped a fine of about 1.5 billion rupees ($5.3 million) on the couple.
The accusations were brought against them by Pakistan’s anti-corruption watchdog. It said they had sold or kept state gifts received in office for personal profit. Such gifts included a jewelry set from the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia.
Khan is barred from standing in next Thursday’s elections as he is already serving a three-year jail term for corruption.
The former Pakistani leader has said the numerous cases against him are “politically motivated.”
Khan was ousted through a no-confidence vote in Parliament in April 2022 and is currently serving a three-year prison sentence in a graft case.
The recent sentence came a day after Khan was given a 10-year prison term for “revealing state secrets.” It was unclear whether the sentences are to run consecutively or concurrently.
An official with Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Syed Zulfiqar Bukhari said the sentencing of Khan was “yet another sad day in Pakistan’s judicial history” and questioned its legitimacy.
“Judiciary is being dismantled. A flawed decision meant to be suspended by the higher court, as witnesses clearly seemed compromised,” he was quoted as saying by media.
“No cross-questioning allowed, no final argument concluded and decision pops up like a pre-determined process in play,” he added.
Khan’s lawyers have also said he was not given a chance to defend himself in a trial that moved more quickly than expected.
The reporters at the scene also said the judge also read out the verdicts while neither Khan, Bibi, or their legal team were in the courtroom.
Khan’s wife, Bibi, who had been out on remand, surrendered at the jail on Wednesday.
According to the PTI, the sentencing further bans their leader from future political work. He will be disqualified for 10 years from holding public office.
Khan says the legal cases against him were a plot to sideline him ahead of the vote on February 8..
The former prime minister also says his ouster was a US conspiracy, executed by the military and the government in Pakistan, what US and Pakistani officials have denied.
Pakistani political analyst Cyril Almeida said Khan’s conviction is a message from the powerful military to the people before the vote next week.
“The generals are telling the voter: don’t bother. Don’t bother turning up to vote for Imran because he will not be allowed near power again anytime soon,” he told Al Jazeera.
“Whether the voters obey [the army] will be known next week. The charges are political, the conviction is political, and, if and when the time comes, the reversal will be political.”
