Former Pak PM Imran Khan, Bushra Bibi indicted in third corruption case

Khan has already been convicted in two cases of corruption charges, that disqualified him from taking part in politics for 10 years

A Pakistani court on Tuesday indicted former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, in a graft case. According to his party, he has been charged with receiving land as a bribe during his premiership.

Khan, 71, has been in jail since August in connection with other cases and has previously denied the allegations. He had already been convicted in two cases on corruption charges that disqualified him from taking part in politics for 10 years.

The trial was held on a jail's premises. The couple pleaded not guilty, the party said.

Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party-backed candidates won the most number of seats in parliament in the February 8 national elections despite the convictions and what it says is a military-backed crackdown.

But his Opposition parties, led by the Sharif and Bhutto dynasties, cobbled together an alliance to make a minority coalition government.

The latest indictment is related to Al-Qadir Trust, which is a non-governmental welfare organization set up by Khan and his third wife, Bushra Bibi, in 2018 when he was still in office.

Prosecutors say the trust was a front for Khan to receive valuable land as a bribe from a real estate developer, Malik Riaz Hussain, who is one of Pakistan's wealthiest and most powerful businessmen.

The PTI condemned the indictment. "Trials conducted behind prison walls only meant to pave the way for miscarriage of justice," it said in a statement.

(With inputs from Reuters)