Pakistani former Prime Minister and cricketer Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi were both sentenced to seventeen years in prison on Saturday. The case revolves around buying luxury government gifts at too low prices and then reselling them, international news agencies report.
In Pakistan, politicians are only allowed to keep state gifts, in this case including jewelry from Saudi Arabia, if they pay a competitive price for them. When they sell the gifts again, they have to declare the amount they receive for them. The couple stated a far too low value for the gifts in question, allowing them to purchase them well below market value.
Since Khan, who served as prime minister from 2018, was removed from office in 2022, he has been prosecuted dozens of times on charges ranging from corruption to terrorism and violating state secrets. In January, Khan was sentenced to fourteen years in prison for corruption. His wife was then sentenced to seven years. That conviction involved money laundering through Khan’s wife’s nonprofit organization.
In even earlier cases, Khan was sentenced to ten, fourteen and seven years in prison for, among other things, corruption, abuse of power and sedition. The 73-year-old former prime minister has been held in a prison near the capital Islamabad since August 2023. Khan has always denied all charges and has maintained since his arrest that it is a plot by political rivals.
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