Pakistan's former PM Imran Khan sentenced to 17 years in graft case

By Tooba Khan

 

A Pakistani court sentenced Imran Khan to 17 years in prison after finding him guilty of corruption when in office, another setback for the former prime minster who has been in jail since 2023.

 

Judge Shahrukh Arjumand of an anti-graft court handed Khan the maximum prison sentence for illegally undervaluing and then obtaining expensive gifts from the national treasury when he was premier, Khan’s lawyer Khalid Yousaf Chaudry said. The court also convicted his wife Bushra Bibi to a similar sentence in the same case. 

This is the former cricket star’s sixth conviction since he was removed from power in April 2022 through a parliamentary vote. Khan is facing cases ranging from corruption to misuse of power and inciting violence, which he says are politically motivated. 

 

In the past year, higher courts have overturned verdicts in at least three of the cases including a charge of violating Islamic wedding rules and for disclosing a state secret when he was premier. A fourth prison sentence was suspended by a higher court. Still, Khan is awaiting trial in dozens of other cases including inciting his supporters to violence and attacking state buildings when he was arrested in May 2023.

 

Despite Khan being in jail, politicians loyal to him won the most National Assembly seats in a general election last year. But his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party failed to form a government as rivals including Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif joined forces in a coalition and took office. 

 

Khan is currently serving a 14-year jail term for obtaining land from a business tycoon in return for illegally moving 190 millions pounds ($254 million) in funds that were retrieved from the UK’s National Crime Agency when he was the premier.

 

Khan’s removal from power in 2022 was largely seen by his supporters as a result of a falling out with the country’s powerful military. The military had ruled the nation about half the time since independence in 1947 and wields the final word on critical matters from foreign policy to internal politics and the economy even when not in power.