Islamabad:
Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has called the seven-year prison sentence in the “un-Islamic” marriage or “Iddat” case “politically motivated” and meant to “humiliate” him, Dawn reported.
Speaking to media persons at Adiala jail, Khan said the case was filed to humiliate him and damage his “dignity and reputation”.
He added that such cases would not deter him and that he would not accept any “agreement” with the military establishment.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) condemned the verdict as a violation of Sharia law and said it was a “reprehensible attack” on marriage and family laws and an unethical interference in private affairs.
The party also said it would file a lawsuit in the High Court against the trial court’s decision.
PTI chief counsel Gohar Khan told reporters that the verdict was a “shameless, shameful and immoral allegation” that was politically motivated, Geo News reported.
“This is a case that has no merit but was, in fact, brought only at the behest of Khan’s former close aide An Chaudhry, one of the key witnesses in the case,” he said.
According to Geo News, the trial court sentenced former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi to seven years in prison each in the “Un-Islamic Nika” case in Adiala jail.
The court also asked Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi to pay a fine of PKR 500,000 each. The couple were in the courtroom when the sentencing was announced.
Earlier, the Lahore Women’s Action Forum (WAF) expressed deep disappointment over the recent verdict in the “un-Islamic” marriage case, highlighting its concerns over the impact on women’s autonomy and rights in Pakistan, The Express Tribune reported
“We condemn these patriarchal criminal trials and the dangerous precedent they set for women in this country,” the statement said.
Meanwhile, Bushra Bibi told reporters that her ex-husband Khawar Maneka had verbally divorced her in April 2017 and the divorce agreement he filed in court dated November 2017 was “fake”.
she says, “[My] The iddat period peaked on January 1, 2018, followed by the official announcement of the marriage in February 2018. ” According to Geo News, she denied the allegations of having an inappropriate relationship with PTI founder Imran Khan.
Talking about the timetable for registering the case against her ex-husband, Bushra Bibi emphasized that the case was filed after the applicant had been detained for a period of time, until November 14, 2023.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
