Pakistan’s former premier Imran Khan and wife convicted for illegal marriage
- A court has convicted and sentenced Khan and his wife to seven years in prison on a charge that their 2018 marriage violated the law, officials and a lawyer said
- It is Khan’s fourth conviction since 2022, when he was ousted. Analysts say they are punishment for his rhetoric against the nation’s powerful military leadership
The latest verdict follows another case in which Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, were sentenced on Wednesday, given 14 years in prison for corruption.
It comes ahead of February 8 parliamentary elections in which Khan has already been disqualified because of corruption convictions while his party is struggling to run an election campaign.
It is Khan’s fourth conviction since 2022, when he was ousted from power. His sentences total 34 years and will be served concurrently.
Analysts say Khan’s multiple and apparently hasty convictions are seen by his party and supporters as punishment for his rhetoric against Pakistan’s powerful military leadership, which has ruled the country for half of its 76-year history.
During his final months in power, Khan had broadened his fight with opponents to include the military.
The lawyer for the couple, Intisar Panjutha, said the verdict was announced by Judge Qudrat Ullah a day after the trial ended. Khan and his family insist the trial is politically motivated.
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Former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan jailed for 14 years ahead of elections
The prosecution said Khan and his wife violated the law that a woman must wait three months before marrying again.
Bibi, Khan’s third wife, was a spiritual healer who was previously married to a man who claimed that they divorced in November 2017, less than three months before she married Khan. Bibi has said they divorced in August 2017.
She and Khan, who had been married twice before, denied they violated the three-month waiting period – a requirement of Islamic law and upheld by Pakistan.
The ruling was condemned by Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party. Its head, Gohar Khan, told reporters that Khan will appeal. “This is a bogus case against Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi, but still they were given maximum prison sentence by the court,” he said.
The couple were also fined 500,000 rupees (US$1,800) each.
Khan is currently serving multiple prison terms at Adiala prison in Rawalpindi, where his trials were held because of security concerns.
He is embroiled in more than 150 legal cases, including inciting people to violence after his arrest in May 2023.
During nationwide riots in May, Khan’s supporters attacked the military headquarters in Rawalpindi, stormed an airbase in Mianwali in the eastern Punjab province and torched a building housing state-run Radio Pakistan in the northwest.
The violence subsided only when Khan was released at the time by the Supreme Court.
Khan and Bibi also face another corruption case, allegedly involving giving undue benefits to a property tycoon in return for establishing an Islamic university.
