Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi were sentenced to additional prison terms in the state gift fraud case.
They were found guilty of violating Pakistan’s gift rules after Bibi received fine jewelery set by Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed bin Salman during a state visit in 2021.
The pair are already serving prison sentences for previous convictions, and the new sentences, which include 10 years for breach of trust and seven years for criminal mischief and fines, will reportedly run concurrently with their previous terms.
Khan described the charges as politically motivated and his lawyer told BBC News his team planned to challenge the verdict.
Salman Safdar, the former prime minister’s lawyer, told the BBC after the hearing that Khan’s lawyers were only informed of the sentence late on Friday night, after regular trial hours.
They planned to challenge the ruling in the High Court, Mr Safdar said.
The case is the latest in a series of charges against the cricket star-turned-politician, who has been detained since August 2023. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison in January in a separate corruption case.
He was charged with: There are more than 100 cases, ranging from the leak of national secrets to the sale of national gifts. The BBC could not confirm the exact figures raised against him.
According to court documents, the jewelery case, called Toshakhana 2 in Pakistan, concerns a Bulgari jewelery set given by Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to Bushra Bibi during a state visit in 2021.
Under Pakistan’s state gift rules, these items are passed on to Pakistan’s Toshakhana Department (state treasury), but politicians can buy them back.
Khan reportedly underestimated the value of the jewelry set from a private company and then asked it to be repurchased at a greatly discounted price.
In addition to the prison sentences, the two men were sentenced to a fine of more than 16 million Pakistani rupees (£42,600).
Khan had also been found guilty in another previous Toshakhana case, but he contested that conviction, meaning his sentence will be suspended pending the outcome of his appeal.
He also has other open cases against him.
These include terrorism charges related to violent protests that occurred on May 9, 2023, for which he was previously arrested.
Khan was Pakistan’s prime minister until he was ousted in a vote of no confidence in April 2022.
Although he made no public appearances, his social media accounts continued to operate with messages left by him, often on X, after prison visits.
They have been highly critical of Pakistan’s current government and politically powerful Army Commander Asim Munir, including posts calling him a tyrannical dictator.
In November, visitors were denied for almost a month.
After a campaign by his family and political party, his sister was allowed to visit in early December. Hours after she saw him, a comment was posted on his account in which Khan called Field Marshall Asim Munir a “mentally unstable person.”
Khan has not been allowed any family visits since.
The ruling stated that the judge was lenient in sentencing Khan because of his “old age.”
UPDATE: This story has been updated to clarify the latest legal status of Khan’s previously separate Toshakhana case.
