SOURCE :- THE AGE NEWS
By Samaan Lateef
A Pakistani court has sentenced Imran Khan to 14 years in prison in a $374 million corruption case, setting up a clash with senior figures in the Trump administration who have been campaigning for his release.
Judge Nasir Javed Rana delivered the conviction, alongside a seven-year sentence for his wife, in a makeshift courtroom at Adiala Jail in the garrison town of Rawalpindi on Friday.
Former Pakistan prime minister and cricketing great Imran Khan has been sentenced to 14 years in prison.Credit: AP
The 72-year-old cricketer-turned-politician and his wife are accused of accepting a gift of land from a real estate tycoon in exchange for laundered money when Khan was in power.
The verdict was given ahead of the January 20 inauguration of Donald Trump, whose allies including Richard Grenell and Matt Gaetz, have been campaigning for Khan’s release.
Grenell will serve as Trump’s envoy for special missions, while Gaetz had been the president-elect’s pick for attorney general before he dropped out over a US House ethics report that alleged he paid underage girls for sex. He denied the accusations.
Trump also developed a rapport with Khan, whom he met in Washington in July 2019. The pair met again in Davos in 2020, where Trump called Pakistan’s former prime minister a “very good friend”. Khan never met with Joe Biden, the outgoing US president.
In addition to their prison sentences, Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, were fined 1 million Pakistan rupees ($5794) and half a million Pakistan rupees respectively, and face additional time in jail if the fines are not paid on time.
A spokesman for the 72-year-old said the case against Khan and his wife lacked any solid foundation and is bound to collapse.
“All evidence and witness testimonies confirm that there has been no mismanagement or wrongdoing. Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi are merely trustees with no further involvement in the matter,” the spokesman said.
Khan told local media from jail: “Today’s verdict has tarnished the reputation of the judiciary. In this case, neither I or the government benefited.
“I don’t want any relief. I will face all these bogus cases, but let people know a dictator is doing all this. Those who are with him [the dictator] are free and those against him are being punished,” Khan said.
Supporters of imprisoned former prime minister Imran Khan chant during a protest in Peshawar condemning the court verdict.Credit: AP
He added that his wife had nothing to do with this “phoney case” and said she was sentenced to infuriate him.
Prosecutors say Khan allowed businessman Malik Riaz to pay fines that were imposed on him in a separate case using a pot of laundered money of $373.6 million that was returned to the Pakistani government by Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) in 2022. Riaz fled the country without issuing any public denials. The Telegraph has contacted him for a response.
Khan was then accused of using hundreds of acres of land from Riaz to set up Al-Qadir Trust University, where students have been receiving free education.
Pakistan’s former prime minister also set up three major cancer hospitals and a science university where people have received free healthcare and education.
Khan, who was ousted in a no-confidence vote in parliament in April 2022, had previously been convicted on charges of corruption, revealing official secrets and violating marriage laws in three separate verdicts and sentenced to 10, 14 and seven years respectively. In all these cases, the sentence was either suspended or he was later acquitted by higher courts.
The case saw testimonies from former cabinet members and officials, who claimed details of the settlement were withheld from the government.
Pervez Khattak, a former cabinet member, testified that a confidential deed involving the settlement with the NCA was approved without full disclosure to the cabinet.
Naeem Panjutha, Khan’s lawyer, said: “This is the darkest verdict in the history of Pakistan. Law was attacked under the cover of darkness. It proves if you do a good deed in Pakistan and set up a university to provide free education to our underprivileged children then you will be put in jail like they did with Khan.”
The verdict triggered a protest by Khan’s supporters in Rawalpindi, where security has been beefed up in a bid to prevent riots.
Khan was illegally arrested in May 2023 from court premises, prompting violent nationwide protests by his supporters. Fresh cases were filed against him to keep him inside the prison.
Other accused, including Riaz and several of Khan’s advisers, were declared absconders, with their properties frozen by authorities.
Pakistan’s generals deny meddling in politics, but have long been accused of propping up favourites or undermining those they dislike.
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