Pakistan’s former premier Imran Khan and spouse convicted of marriage regulation violation in a fourth case
ISLAMABAD (AP) — A Pakistani courtroom on Saturday convicted and sentenced former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his spouse to seven years in jail on a cost that their 2018 marriage violated the regulation, officers and a lawyer stated.
The newest verdict follows one other case by which Khan and his spouse, Bushra Bibi, had been sentenced to 14 years in jail on Wednesday for corruption. It comes forward of Feb. 8 parliamentary elections by which Khan has already been disqualified due to graft convictions whereas his occasion is struggling to run an election marketing campaign.
It was Khan’s fourth conviction since 2022, when he was ousted from energy. His sentences whole 34 years and can be served concurrently.
Analysts say Khan’s a number of and apparently hasty convictions are seen by his occasion and supporters as punishment for his rhetoric in opposition to Pakistan’s highly effective navy management, which has dominated the nation for half of its 76-year historical past. Throughout his ultimate months in energy, Khan had broadened his battle with opponents to incorporate the navy.
The lawyer for the couple, Intisar Panjutha, stated the decision was introduced by Decide Qudrat Ullah a day after the trial ended. Khan and his household insist the trial is politically motivated.
The prosecution stated Khan and his spouse violated the regulation {that a} lady should wait three months earlier than marrying once more.
Bibi, Khan’s third spouse, was a religious healer who was beforehand married to a person who claimed that they divorced in November 2017, less than three months before she married Khan. Bibi has stated they divorced in August 2017.
She and Khan, who had been married twice earlier than, denied they violated the three-month ready interval — a requirement of Islamic regulation and upheld by Pakistan.
The ruling was condemned by Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf occasion. Its head, Gohar Khan, informed reporters that Khan will attraction. “This can be a bogus case in opposition to Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi, however nonetheless they got most jail sentence by the courtroom,” he stated.
The couple had been additionally fined 500,000 rupees ($1,800) every.
Khan is at present serving a number of jail phrases at Adiala jail in Rawalpindi, the place his trials had been held due to safety considerations.
He’s embroiled in additional than 150 authorized instances, together with inciting folks to violence after his arrest in Might 2023. Throughout nationwide riots in May, Khan’s supporters attacked the navy headquarters in Rawalpindi, stormed an air base in Mianwali within the japanese Punjab province and torched a constructing housing state-run Radio Pakistan within the northwest.
The violence subsided solely when Khan was released at the time by the Supreme Courtroom.
Khan and Bibi additionally face one other graft case, allegedly involving giving undue advantages to a property tycoon in return for establishing an Islamic college.
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Observe AP’s Asia-Pacific protection at https://apnews.com/hub/asia-pacific
