Former Pakistan PM Imran Khan jailed for 14 years in corruption case
by Kit Heren · LBCBy Kit Heren
Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan has been sentenced to 14 years in prison over his corruption case.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
Khan's wife Bushra Bibi was also given seven years in prison for the corruption charge, which Khan's party say is politically motivated.
The couple are accused of accepting a gift of land from a real estate magnate in exchange for laundered money when Khan was in power.
Khan, the country's former international cricket captain, has been in prison on other charges since 2023.
This is the fourth case in which he has been convicted.
Responding to the land corruption sentencing, Khan's Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party said: "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."
Read more: Imran Khan's downfall: 14-year prison sentence raises questions about his legacy
Prosecutors say the businessman, Malik Riaz, was then allowed by Khan to pay fines that were imposed on him in another case from the same laundered money of £190 million that was returned to Pakistan by British authorities in 2022 to deposit to the national exchequer.
Khan has denied wrongdoing and insisted since his arrest in 2023 that all the charges against him are a plot by rivals to keep him from returning to office.
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.
Under Pakistani law, he is to serve the terms concurrently - meaning, the length of the longest of the sentences.
He survived an attempt on his life at a political rally in November that year, before the corruption charges were brought against him in 2023.
Mr Khan's sentencing came a day after the PTI held reconciliatory talks with the Pakistan government.