Islamabad, Apr 1 (EFE).- A Pakistani court on Monday suspended the 14-year sentences handed to former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi in a case related to the retention and sale of state gifts.
However, the Islamabad High Court’s decision to suspend the sentences and grant bail to Khan and his wife is unlikely to pave the way for their release, as both remain in jail after multiple other convictions.
In December, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) filed a reference alleging that Khan and his wife retained 58 valuable gifts out of 108 received during Khan’s tenure as prime minister from 2018 to 2022, purportedly undervalued.
On Jan. 31, both were sentenced to 14 years in prison for keeping and selling the gifts from a state treasury, locally known as the “Toshakhana.”
A statement from Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party said the court suspended the sentence of the former prime minister and former First Lady in the Toshakhana case and ordered their release on bail.
However, the release of the former prime minister seems unlikely as he faces at least two other sentences in separate cases.
Khan, whose backed candidates secured the most seats in the Feb. 8 elections, is currently imprisoned in Adiala jail in Rawalpindi after being sentenced to 31 years in prison in three different cases, including 14 years in the Toshakhana case.
On Feb. 4, just four days before the polls, Khan and his wife were also sentenced to seven years in jail for an alleged illegal wedding by contracting their marriage during the ‘iddat,’ a waiting period in Islam for a woman to remarry.
Khan was given a 10-year disqualification from holding public office.
Additionally, on Jan. 30, Khan was jailed for 10 years in a separate case on charges of revealing state secrets.
Khan, who was ousted in a parliamentary vote in April 2022, blamed former army chief General Qamar Bajwa for his ouster and later accused the country’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of an assassination attempt on him in November 2022.
The cricketer-turned-politician is currently facing nearly 200 legal cases that his party claims are politically motivated.
“Given the quality of trial conducted in trial court, the PTI always demanded free and fair trial of any case, Khan is politically charged with, for the public to decide if or not the conviction was vindicated,” the party said in the statement.
The statement noted that the trial court not only compromised the fairness of the trial by limiting counsel access but also reached a hasty decision without allowing the defense to conclude arguments. EFE
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