 "Ex-Pak PM Imran Khan, wife Bushra Bibi, sentenced to 17 years in prison in Toshakhana case")
A special court of Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Saturday sentenced the country’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi to 17 years imprisonment in the . The case in question pertained to the purchase of an expensive Bulgari jewellery set, gifted to Imran by the Saudi crown prince during an official visit in May 2021, at a low price.
According to Dawn, at the Saturday hearing, the prosecution contended that the PTI founder retained the jewellery set, valued at approximately PKR 80 million, after paying only PKR 2.9 million. As per the report, the verdict was delivered by Special Judge Central Shahrukh Arjumand during a hearing held at Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail, where Imran is incarcerated.
In the Saturday hearing, the Pakistani Tehreek-e-Insaaf supremo was sentenced to a total of 17 years in prison and was awarded 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment under sections 34 (common intention) and 409 (criminal breach of trust) of the Pakistan Penal Code, and seven years under Section 5(2) (criminal misconduct by public servants) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Meanwhile, Bushra Bibi was also sentenced to 17 years in prison under the same provision. Apart from this, the couple was fined PKR 16.4 million. If they failed to pay the fine, then, as per the law, they would be awarded additional jail time, Dawn reported.
Imran’s lawyers react
Following the verdict, both Imran and Bushra’s legal teams indicated their intention to challenge the decision before the high court. In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, PTI said that Khan’s family was not allowed inside the jail, where a “kangaroo court announced the verdict of the Toshakhana 2 case”.
“A closed-door jail trial is neither free nor fair; it is in fact a military trial,” the party said. It also shared a video of Imran’s sister, Aleema Khan, inside a car, asking why she was not being allowed to proceed further. “They can’t stop us. The jail trial is today,” she said in the video, adding that it was “illegal” that the family was being stopped.
It is pertinent to note that Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, were indicted in the case in December last year. In October this year, the two denied all allegations hurled against them in the case, calling them a fabricated and politically motivated attempt to disqualify Imran from politics.
Quick Reads
View AllIt also becomes important to point out that the former Pakistani prime minister has been imprisoned since August 2023 and is already serving a 14-year sentence at the Adiala jail in a £190 million corruption case, and also faces pending trials under the Anti-Terrorism Act related to the protests of May 9, 2023. Meanwhile, Bushra Bibi is serving a seven-year sentence in a £190 million corruption case.
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