Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
A Pakistani The court convicted and sentenced the former Prime Minister imran khan His wife Bushra Bibi was sentenced to 17 years in prison on Saturday after being found guilty of possessing and selling government gifts, officials and his party said.
When the couple were indicted last year, they pleaded innocent. He was accused of selling gifts, including jewellery, received from the Saudi Arabian government at prices well below market value while in office.
Prosecutors said Khan and his wife declared the value of the gifts to be a little more than $10,000, well below their actual market value of $285,521, allowing them to purchase the items at a lower price.
Under Pakistani law, for government officials and politicians to keep gifts they receive from foreign dignitaries, they must purchase them at a determined market price and declare the income earned from selling them.
Khan’s spokesperson Zulfiqar Bukhari said the verdict in the corruption case ignored basic principles of justice. In a statement, he said that “criminal liability was imposed without proof of intent, benefit or harm, relying instead on a retroactive reinterpretation of the rules.
Bukhari said the court’s decision “raises serious questions on the fairness and impartiality of the process, which has turned justice into a tool for selective prosecution.”
Khan’s opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party in a statement condemned the verdict, calling it “a dark chapter in history” and said Khan was present in the court when the judge announced the verdict in the city’s Adiala jail. Rawalpindi,
Khan, 73, was ousted in a no-confidence vote in April 2022 and his party is in the opposition in Parliament. He is serving a multiple prison sentence through 2023 on corruption convictions and other charges that the former cricket star and his supporters have leveled with the aim of blocking his political career.