It is the third sentence the jailed Khan, 71, has received last week
Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra were sentenced to seven years in prison and fined by a court that ruled their 2018 marriage violated the law, Reuters reported, citing a party statement. Khan’s Justice Movement (“Pakistan Tehreek and Insaf”).
The fine imposed on the two is 500,000 rupees ($1,800), reports the Pakistani news channel ARY News, quoted by BTA.
It is the third sentence the jailed 71-year-old Khan has received this week, ahead of Pakistan’s Feb. 8 general election, in which he is barred from running.
On Tuesday, the former prime minister received a ten-year sentence for leaking state secrets, and on Wednesday, a Pakistani anti-corruption court sentenced him and his wife to 14 years in prison for withholding and selling state gifts he received as prime minister.
Bushra was accused of marrying Khan before the Islamic mandatory waiting period, called “iddat”, for her divorce to be finalized.
The Khans entered into their marriage contract, called a nikah, in January 2018 in a secret ceremony, seven months before the charming Khan, a cricket superstar in his homeland, took office for the first time as prime minister, according to Reuters.
There was a dispute as to whether they were married before the waiting period ended after Bushra’s divorce. After initially denying the two had married in January, Khan’s party confirmed it weeks later. Imran and Bushra denied breaking the rules.
Khan is in Adiala prison in the garrison city of Rawalpindi while his wife has been granted permission to serve out her sentences at the family’s hilltop estate in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. Reuters points out that it is currently unclear whether Khan’s sentences will run concurrently or consecutively.
Illustrative Photo by Donald Tong: https://www.pexels.com/photo/rear-view-of-a-silhouette-man-in-window-143580/
