Former Pakistan international cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for corruption; it follows him being given 10 years in prison for leaking state secrets on Tuesday; Khan was ousted from power in a no-confidence vote in Parliament in April 2022.
Wednesday 31 January 2024 07:10, UK
Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife have been sentenced to 14 years in prison for corruption.
Wednesday's ruling comes a day after another special court convicted Mr Khan for leaking state secrets and gave him a 10-year prison sentence. Khan's former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi was also given a 10-year jail sentence as part of the cipher case.
Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, are accused of retaining and selling state gifts when the former premier was in power. The court also disqualified him for 10 years from holding any public office ahead of February 8 parliamentary elections.
Khan's lawyer Babar Awan said the former prime minister was convicted and sentenced in such a hurry that the judge did not wait for the arrival of his legal team. He added Khan's basic human and fundamental rights had been violated and the latest conviction and sentencing would be challenged in higher courts.
"It seems the judge was in a hurry to announce the verdict," Awan said. Zulfiqar Bukhari, the chief spokesperson for Mr Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, also confirmed the conviction and sentencing.
This latest sentencing follows on from Tuesday's, where it was alleged Khan had shared the contents of a secret cable sent by the country's ambassador in Washington to the government in Islamabad.
Khan claimed the cable was proof of a conspiracy by the Pakistani military and US government to topple his government
in 2022, after he visited Moscow just before Russia's invasion of Ukraine. He also previously said the contents of the cable appeared in the media from other sources.
Khan's party said they would challenge the decision and called it a "sham case".
"We don't accept this illegal decision," Khan's lawyer Naeem Panjutha posted on social media platform X following the sentencing.
It comes as the country prepares to hold elections on February 8 - a vote Khan is barred from running in due to a previous conviction.
Khan, who played in 88 Test matches and 175 one-day internationals for Pakistan, was ousted as prime minister through a no-confidence vote in April 2022.
The 71-year-old, the founder of the PTI party, was jailed in August 2023 on corruption charges - which he has claimed are politically motivated.
While his jail term was suspended as he challenged the corruption conviction, it ruled him out of the country's general elections next week.
Pakistan has seen violent demonstrations since Khan's arrest last year. Authorities have cracked down on his supporters and party since then.
