A Pakistani court docket Wednesday sentenced former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his spouse to 14 years in jail for corruption, a day after one other particular court docket handed him a 10-year jail sentence for leaking state secrets and techniques.
The newest conviction and sentencing have been Khan’s third since 2022 when he was ousted from energy.
Khan and his spouse have been accused in the newest case of retaining and promoting state items when the previous premier was in energy.
The court docket additionally disqualified Khan for years from holding any public workplace, forward of Pakistan’s Feb. 8 parliamentary elections. Khan’s lawyer Babar Awan mentioned the previous prime minister was convicted and sentenced in such a rush that the decide didn’t anticipate the arrival of his authorized group.
He mentioned Khan’s fundamental human and basic rights had been violated and that the most recent conviction and sentencing could be challenged in larger courts.
“It seems the judge was in a hurry to announce the verdict,” he mentioned.
Zulfiqar Bukhari, the chief spokesperson for Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf celebration, or PTI, additionally confirmed the conviction and sentencing.
The newest growth got here three weeks after Khan and his spouse, Bushra Bibi, have been indicted on graft costs for retaining state items, together with jewellery and watches from Saudi Arabia’s authorities, authorities mentioned.
The newest court docket order was one other blow to Khan. He and Bibi had pleaded not responsible when the costs have been learn out at a court docket on the jail within the garrison metropolis of Rawalpindi earlier this month.
Khan briefly attended the court docket listening to when the decide introduced the decision.
Khan was ousted from energy in a no-confidence vote in Parliament in April 2022. Despite his conviction and sentencing, he stays widespread and is presently serving time on a corruption conviction and has a number of different authorized instances hanging over him.
Source: www.dailysabah.com