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Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi have been sentenced to further jail terms following a fraud case involving state gifts.<\/p>\n
They were convicted of breaking Pakistan’s rules on gifts after Bibi was given a luxury jewellery set by Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed bin Salman during a 2021 state visit.<\/p>\n
The pair are already serving time in prison for earlier convictions, and the new sentences – 10 years for criminal breach of trust and seven years for criminal misconduct, and a fine – will reportedly run concurrently to their earlier terms.<\/p>\n
Khan has described the charges as politically motivated and his lawyer told BBC News his team plan to challenge the verdict.<\/p>\n
Speaking to the BBC after the sentencing, the former prime minister’s lawyer, Salman Safdar, said Khan and his wife had not been present for the hearing.<\/p>\n
Mr Safdar said their legal team had only been informed about the sentencing late on Friday night, after normal court hours.<\/p>\n
They planned to mount a challenge to the verdict in the high court, Mr Safdar said.<\/p>\n
This case is the latest in a series of charges laid against the cricket star-turned-politician, who has been detained since August 2023. In January, he was sentenced to 14 years in prison over a separate corruption case.<\/a><\/p>\n He has faced charges in more than 100 cases, ranging from leaking state secrets to selling state gifts. The BBC has been unable to confirm the exact number brought against him.<\/p>\n The jewellery case, referred to as Toshakhana 2 in Pakistan, concerns a Bulgari jewellery set given to Bushra Bibi by Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during a state visit in 2021, according to court documents.<\/p>\n Under Pakistan’s rules on state gifts, these items go to Pakistan’s Toshakana department (state treasury), but politicians are able to purchase the items back.<\/p>\n Khan is alleged to have asked a private firm to undervalue the jewellery set, before purchasing it back at a significantly reduced price.<\/p>\n In addition to their jail terms, the pair were handed a fine of over 16 million Pakistani rupees (\u00a342,600).<\/p>\n Khan has previously been acquitted in a separate Toshakhana case.<\/p>\n The former leader still has other cases outstanding against him.<\/p>\n These include terrorism charges relating to violent protests that took place on 9 May 2023, when he was previously arrested.<\/p>\n Khan was Pakistan’s prime minister until April 2022 when he was ousted in a vote of no confidence.<\/p>\n Although he has not been seen in public, his social media accounts have continued to operate with messages attributed to him on X often appearing after jail visits.<\/p>\n These have been highly critical of Pakistan’s current government and its politically powerful army Chief Field Marshall Asim Munir<\/a>, including posts calling him a tyrannical dictator.<\/p>\n In November, he was denied any visitors for nearly a month.<\/p>\n After campaigning by his family and party, his sister was allowed to visit in early December; a few hours after she saw him, his account posted a comment credited to Khan calling the Field Marshall Asim Munir a “mentally unstable person”.<\/p>\n Khan has not been allowed any family visits since.<\/p>\n According to an official at the jail, Khan and his wife were present when the verdict was announced but no journalists were allowed to observe.<\/p>\n The judgement states the judge was lenient in sentencing because of Khan’s “old age”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n