{"id":2254,"date":"2024-01-01T02:39:22","date_gmt":"2023-12-31T20:39:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usbnews24.com\/?p=2254"},"modified":"2024-02-01T11:41:16","modified_gmt":"2024-02-01T05:41:16","slug":"pakistan-ex-pm-imran-khan-and-wife-get-14-years-jail-in-graft-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/USBnews24.com\/?p=2254","title":{"rendered":"Pakistan ex-PM Imran Khan and wife get 14 years jail in graft case"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan and his wife were sentenced on Wednesday (Jan 31) to 14 years in jail after being found guilty of graft in a case involving gifts he received while premier.<\/p>\n

The verdict, a week before national elections, comes a day after Khan was given\u00a0a prison sentence of 10 years in a case related to leaking state secrets.<\/p>\n

“Another sad day in our judicial system history, which is being dismantled,” a spokesman for Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party told media.<\/p>\n

It was not immediately clear if Khan’s sentences were to run consecutively or concurrently following a trial held inside the jail where he has been detained for much of the time since his arrest in August.<\/p>\n

But Khan’s lawyer Salman Safdar confirmed to AFP he had been sentenced alongside his wife, Bushra Bibi, who had been on remand throughout the trial.<\/p>\n

“Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi have been sentenced. Bushra Bibi has not been arrested as yet,” Safdar said.<\/p>\n

The pair married in 2018, months before Khan was elected prime minister.<\/p>\n

Bibi, a faith healer who met Khan when he approached her for spiritual guidance, is rarely seen in public.<\/p>\n

About 127 million Pakistanis\u00a0are eligible to vote on election day\u00a0next Thursday, with Khan and PTI at the centre of debate despite being squeezed out of the limelight.<\/p>\n

The ballot has already been marred by allegations of rigging,\u00a0with Khan barred from running\u00a0over a previous graft conviction and his party subject to a massive crackdown.<\/p>\n

Since being ousted in 2022, Khan has been buried by court cases he claims have been triggered to prevent his return to office after a campaign of defiance against Pakistan’s military kingmakers.<\/p>\n

Khan had accused the powerful military \u2013 with whom he ruled in partnership for much of his tenure \u2013 of orchestrating his ouster in a US-backed conspiracy.<\/p>\n

When Khan was first arrested in May last year, riots broke out across the country.<\/p>\n

But his street power was killed by a military crackdown that saw thousands of supporters detained\u00a0\u2013 100 of whom are facing closed-door military trials\u00a0\u2013 and dozens of senior leaders forced underground.<\/p>\n

“You have to take revenge for every injustice with your vote on Feb 8,” Khan said in a statement posted on his X profile reacting to his 10-year sentence on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

“Tell them that we are not sheep that can be driven with a stick.”<\/p>\n

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