ISLAMABAD (Reuters) -A Pakistani court sentenced former Prime Minister Imran Khan to 14 years imprisonment on Friday in a land corruption case, local broadcaster ARY News reported.
The verdict in the case, the largest in terms of financial wrongdoing faced by Khan, was delivered by an anti-graft court in a prison in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, where Khan has been jailed since August 2023.
The former cricket star, 72, had been indicted on charges that he and his wife were gifted land by a real estate developer during his premiership from 2018 to 2022 in exchange for illegal favours.
Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, had pleaded not guilty. The announcement of the verdict was delayed three times, most recently on Monday, amid talks between the government and Khan’s party.
Bushra Bibi, who is in her late 40s and was out on bail, was taken into custody after she was also convicted in the case, Geo News reported.
“Whilst we wait for detailed decision, it’s important to note that, the Al Qadir Trust case against Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi lacks any solid foundation and is bound to collapse,” Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party’s foreign media wing said in a statement.
The verdict is the biggest setback for Khan and his party since a surprisingly good showing in the 2024 general election when its candidates – who were forced to contest as independents – won the most seats, but fell short of the majority needed to form a government.
Jailed since August 2023, Khan has been facing dozens of cases ranging from charges of graft and misuse of power, to inciting violence against the state after being removed from office in a parliamentary vote of confidence in April 2022.
He has either been acquitted or his sentences suspended in most cases, except for one on charges of inciting supporters to rampage through military facilities to protest against his arrest on May 9, 2023.
His supporters have led several violent protest rallies since the May 9 incidents.
He has been tried inside a jail on security grounds.
