Pakistan's ex-PM Imran Khan sentenced to 14 years in land graft case
- 11 hours ago
Tariq Butt, Correspondent / Agencies
Former prime minister and Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and his spouse Bushra Bibi were awarded 14 years and seven years sentences respectively in the £190 million Al Qadir Trust case by an accountability court on Friday.
Judge Nasir Javed Rana released his verdict, which had earlier been delayed three times, at the Adiala Jail Rawalpindi.
Bushra Bibi, who was present in the court at the time, was immediately taken into custody for having been convicted by the judge. Imran Khan is already in prison in other cases.
The court also imposed fines on Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi, amounting to Rs1 million and Rs500,000, respectively.
Failure to pay the fines would result in an additional six months in jail for Khan and three months for Bushra Bibi, according to the judgment.
The verdict said that the property of the "sham trust 'Al Qadir University Project Trust' is hereby forfeited to the federal government within the meaning of Section 10(a) of the National Accountability Ordinance [NAO], 1999."
"Both the convicts are present before the court; they be taken into custody in this case and be handed over to the superintendent of Adiala Jail along with the committal warrant to serve the sentences so awarded," the judgment, which was announced amid tight security outside Adiala Jail, said.
Federal Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar told reporters that Imran Khan's party could reach out to higher courts to appeal against the ruling, and that the former cricket star could also file a mercy petition to the president of Pakistan.
Omar Ayub, an aide of Imran Khan, said the party will challenge the verdict in higher courts. The former premier, 72, had been indicted on charges that he and his wife were gifted land by a real estate developer during his premiership from 2018 to 2022 in exchange for illegal favours. Imran Khan and Bibi had pleaded not guilty.
Imran Khan has been held in custody since August 2023 charged with around 200 cases but his party claim the latest conviction was being used to pressure him into silence.
"I will neither make any deal nor seek any relief," Imran told reporters inside the court room after his conviction.
The anti-graft court convened in the jail near the capital Islamabad where Imran Khan is being held, and convicted him along with his wife over a welfare foundation they established together called the Al Qadir Trust.
"The prosecution has proven its case. Imran Khan is convicted," said Judge Nasir Javed Rana, announcing a 14 year sentence for Imran Khan and seven years for Bibi.
The case is linked to the Al Qadir Trust, a non-government welfare body the couple set up when Imran was in office.
Prosecutors say the trust was a front for Khan to illegally receive land from a real estate developer. They said he was given 60 acres (24 hectares) near Islamabad and another large plot close to his hilltop mansion in the capital.
Imran's Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) party says the land was not for personal gain and was for the spiritual and educational institution the former prime minister had set up.
"Whilst we wait for 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," PTI's foreign media wing said in a statement.
The announcement of the verdict was delayed three times, most recently on Monday, amid reconciliation talks between PTI and the government. The two sides have been at loggerheads since Khan was ousted from office in 2022.
The verdict is the biggest setback for Khan and his party since a surprisingly good showing in the 2024 general election when PTI's candidates - who were forced to contest as independents - won the most seats, but fell short of the majority needed to form a government.
Faith healer Bibi, who was recently released on bail, was arrested at the court after the conviction, her spokeswoman Mashal Yousafzai.
Imran Khan maintains the cases are politically motivated and designed to keep him from returning to power.
The sentence has been delayed several times over the past month, with analysts saying the jail term was being used to pressure Imran Khan into accepting a deal with the military to step back from politics.
Since being ousted from power in 2022, Imran Khan has launched an unprecedented campaign in which he has openly criticised the country's powerful generals.
Imran Khan has been previously handed four convictions, two of which have been overturned while the sentences in the other two cases were suspended. But he remained in prison over pending cases.
A UN panel of experts found last year that Khan's detention "had no legal basis and appears to have been intended to disqualify him from running for political office."
Imran was barred from standing in February's election and his Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) party were hamstrung by a widespread crackdown.
PTI won more seats than any other party in the poll, but a coalition of parties considered more pliable to the influence of the military establishment shut them out of power.
Agence France-Presse / Reuters
