Imran Khan, Pakistan‘s former prime minister, has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for selling state gifts.
Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, were convicted by an anti-corruption court in Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital, on Wednesday.
The court also barred Khan from holding any public office before the February 8 parliamentary elections.
The verdict comes a day after the former prime minister received a 10-year prison sentence for leaking state secrets.
Khan, Pakistan’s prime minister from 2018 until his removal in 2022, is already serving a three-year prison sentence after being found guilty of selling state gifts.
Last year’s ruling also barred the former premier from politics for five years.
Although the sentence was later suspended, Khan remained imprisoned in at least 100 other cases in Pakistan since his removal as prime minister.
Bibi had also been on remand during the trial.
Khan’s Conviction
Khan was accused of leaking secret diplomatic correspondence sent from Pakistan’s ambassador in Washington to Islamabad while he was in office, and he was sentenced on Tuesday for that.
It refers to his appearance on stage at a rally in March 2022, where he waved a piece of paper claiming to show a foreign conspiracy against him.
The cricketer-turned-politician stated in the paper that “all will be forgiven if Imran Khan is removed from power”.
Khan did not name the country but was later harshly critical of the United States.
According to the prosecution, the former Prime Minister’s actions amounted to leaking a classified document and jeopardising diplomatic relations.
The latter charge can result in life imprisonment or even the death penalty.
Following the former official’s latest sentence, it was unclear whether the jail terms would run consecutively or concurrently.
Khan, who has repeatedly described his cases as “politically motivated,” responded to the developments in a statement posted to his X account, saying “This is not a trial but a fixed match whose outcome was predetermined by the characters and planners of the London Plan and their seals.”
He urged the people “to take revenge for every injustice by your vote on February 8 while remaining peaceful”.
Khan’s legal team has vowed to challenge the “ridiculous decision” in the superior court.
