Pakistan: Former PM Imran Khan, wife Bushra Bibi sentenced to 14 yrs jail in Toshakhana case

A Pakistani anti-corruption court sentenced ex-Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, to 14 years imprisonment in the Toshakhana case on Wednesday.

They have also been banned from holding any public office for 10 years and fined PKR 787 million, according to Pakistani news outlet Dawn. This verdict follows just a day after a special court in Pakistan, established under the Official Secrets Act, sentenced Khan and former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi to 10 years imprisonment for breaching state secrets.

Earlier in January, Pakistan's anti-corruption court indicted the imprisoned ex-Prime Minister and his wife in the Toshakhana case. The case was heard in Rawalpindi's Adiala Jail, where Khan is currently held.

The case against Khan and Bibi was lodged by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Pakistan's anti-corruption watchdog. The court has closed the right to cross-examine the prosecution's witnesses, asking Khan and his wife to record their statements under Section 342 of the Pakistani Code of Criminal Procedure, Dawn reported.

A judge is permitted to interrogate an accused individual "on the case after the prosecution's witnesses have been examined and before he is called on for his defence" under a certain section of law.

The Toshakhana case, in which they are involved, is centred around allegations that Imran Khan did not deposit 19 million pounds or $24,08,06,950 given by the British government.

Instead, he permitted a property magnate to utilise it to partially offset a fine of Rs 460 billion imposed on him by the Supreme Court. Other co-accused in the case include property developer Malik Riaz Hussain, his son Riaz Alia, Imran Khan's former aides Shehzad Akbar and Zulfiqar Bukhari, Bibi's friend Farah Gogi, and lawyer Zia Mustafa.

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