ISLAMABAD: Jailed Pakistani former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, were sentenced to 14-year and seven-year jail terms, respectively, after an accountability court found the couple guilty of corruption by receiving land as a bribe from a Pakistani real-estate czar.
The makeshift court operating from Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, where Khan has been incarcerated since Aug 2023, had reserved its verdict three times in the £190-million (about Rs 2,003 crore in Indian currency) Al-Qadir Trust case since Dec last year. Following the ruling, Bushra was arrested from the courtroom.
Accountability court judge Nasir Javed Rana also fined Khan Pakistani Rs 1 million ($3,500), while Bibi was fined half that amount.Failure to pay the fines would result in an additional six months in jail for Imran and three months for Bushra, the judge said.
According to the verdict, the property of the “sham trust Al-Qadir University Project Trust is hereby forfeited to the federal govt”.
“Both convicts are present before the court; they be taken into custody in this case and be handed over to the jail superintendent along with the committal warrant to serve the sentences so awarded,” it added.
The couple were indicted in the case on Feb 27, 2024, shortly after the general elections.
The case alleges that Khan and his wife had acquired land worth billions of rupees (millions of US dollars) for the Al-Qadir Trust from Malik Riaz Hussain, a prominent property tycoon in Pakistan, to establish a nonprofit educational institute for the poor. In return, Pakistan’s anti-corruption watchdog alleged, Khan’s govt from Aug 2018 to April 2022 had provided legal cover to Riaz’s black money (£130 million), which Britain’s National Crime Agency had recovered and handed over to the Pakistan govt.
This has been the fourth major case in which the former cricket star has been convicted. Last year, Khan was convicted in cases related to selling state gifts, leaking state secrets, and unlawful marriage, all of which were later overturned or suspended by the Islamabad high court. Despite this, Khan remains behind bars, with dozens of cases pending against him. He describes the cases as a political witch-hunt.
Khan was first arrested in connection with the Al-Qadir Trust case on May 9, 2023, spending just two days in detention. However, the arrest had sparked nationwide protests during which Khan’s supporters had stormed govt buildings and military installations in multiple cities.
Speaking to reporters inside the courtroom after his conviction, Imran rejected the notion of striking a deal with anyone to get himself freed from prison. “I will neither make any deal nor seek any relief,” he told reporters, adding that those who stand against dictatorship are punished.
His Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI)condemned the conviction as a continuation of “bogus persecution” against Khan and his wife. “While the party awaits the detailed decision, it is important to note that the Al Qadir Trust case against Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi lacks any solid foundation and is bound to collapse,” the PTI said. “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,” it added.
