FORMER Pakistan PM Imran Khan has been sentenced to 14 years in jail after he was found guilty of corruption.
The already imprisoned ex-cricket captain was sentenced after allegations he was linked in a £200 million corruption case.
ReutersThe former cricket captain was arrested in 2023[/caption]
ReutersThe ex- PM was sentenced to 14 years in jail[/caption]
His wife Bushra Bibi was also sentenced to seven years behind bars after the couple were accused of accepting a gift of land from a real estate tycoon in exchange for laundered money.
Prosecutors say the businessman, Malik Riaz, was then allowed by Khan to pay fines that were imposed on him in another case from the same laundered money of £190 million.
Khan has denied wrongdoing and insisted since his arrest in 2023, charged with around 200 cases, that all the allegations are a plot by rivals to keep him from returning to office.
His party claim the latest conviction was being used to pressure him into silence.
“I will neither make any deal nor seek any relief,” Khan told reporters inside the court room after his conviction.
“The prosecution has proven its case. Khan is convicted,” said Judge Nasir Javed Rana.
Faith healer Bibi, who was recently released on bail, was arrested at the court after the conviction, her spokeswoman Mashal Yousafzai said.
The cricket star was booted from power in no-confidence vote in 2022.
The sentence has been delayed several times over the past month, with analysts saying the jail term was being used to pressure Khan into accepting a deal with the military to step back from politics.
Khan has been previously handed four convictions, two of which have been overturned while the sentences in the other two cases were suspended.
But he remained in prison over pending cases.
Khan was barred from standing in February’s election and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party were hamstrung by a widespread crackdown.
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