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Fourth court conviction for Pakistan's ex-PM Imran Khan, gets 7 years in prison for unlawful marriage
The latest court ruling comes ahead of the Pakistan parliamentary election, 2024 to be held on February 8.
Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Khan have been sentenced to seven years in prison and fined on Saturday by a court. The court ruled their 2018 marriage violated the law, Khan's party said. This is Khan's fourth court conviction and the third adverse ruling against him this week.
The latest court ruling comes ahead of the Pakistan parliamentary election, 2024 to be held on February 8. Khan has already been barred from contesting the elections. The former Prime Minister is currently lodged in a jail in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.
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Here is a list of the four court convictions against Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Iddat case
On February 3, Khan received the latest court conviction in Iddat case. A Pakistani court has sentenced Khan and his wife Bushra Khan to seven years each in the case related to their marriage during the latter’s Iddat period.
Bushra was accused of not completing the waiting period mandated by Islam, called "Iddat", after divorcing her ex-husband and marrying Khan. Khan and his wife signed their marriage contract, called a "Nikkah", in January 2018 in a secret ceremony seven months before he became Prime Minister for the first time.
The Cipher case
Khan has also been sentenced 10 years in prison in the Cipher case. He was accused of making public a classified cable sent to Islamabad by Pakistan's ambassador in Washington in 2022.
The Toshakhana or state treasury case
In this case, Khan was handed a three-year prison sentence in August 2023 by a Pakistani court. He was accused of selling gifts worth more than 140 million rupees ($501,000) in state possession and received during his 2018-2022 premiership. But this sentence was later suspended.
On January 31, an anti-graft court sentenced Khan and his wife Bushra Khan to 14 years in jail in this case related to illegal selling of state gifts.
It is not clear whether these sentences would run concurrently or sequentially.
(With inputs from news agencies)
