https://arab.news/ydp42
- Unlikely that Khan and Bushra will be released as they face a host of other cases and convictions
- Anti-graft court in Islamabad also handed Khan a 10-year jail term in January for revealing state secrets
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court on Monday suspended 14-year jail sentences for former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Khan in a case related to the illegal sale of state gifts, Khan’s lawyer confirmed.
Khan was handed a three-year prison sentence in August by the Election Commission for selling gifts worth more than 140 million rupees ($501,000) in state possession and received during his 2018-2022 premiership. In January, following an investigation by the country’s top anti-graft body, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), into the same charges, Khan and his wife were handed 14-year jail terms. The sage has come to be popularly known as the toshakhana cases, referring to the state repository of gifts.
Khan’s lawyer Naeem Haider Panjutha said on X the 14-year-jail term verdict by NAB had been suspended.
“Congratulations to the nation. The punishment was suspended for Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi in the toshakhana NAB appeal.”
Local media widely reported that the Islamabad High Court had also ordered that Khan and his wife be released on bail.
But despite the latest relief from the top court, it is unlikely that Khan and Bushra will be released, as they face a host of other cases and convictions.
An anti-graft court in Islamabad handed Khan a 10-year jail term in January for revealing state secrets, a week before national elections on Feb. 8.
In February, Khan and Bushra were separately sentenced to seven years in prison and fined by a court that ruled their 2018 marriage went against Islamic law.
Khan has also been indicted under Pakistan’s anti-terrorism law in connection with violence against the military that erupted following his brief arrest related to the Al-Qadir case on May 9. A section of Pakistan’s 1997 anti-terrorism act prescribes the death penalty as maximum punishment. Khan has denied the charges under the anti-terrorism law, saying he was in detention when the violence took place.
Khan’s convictions mean he is banned from holding public office and ruled the 71-year-old out of the Feb 8 general elections.