Imran Khan sentenced to 14 years in land corruption case

A Pakistani court on Friday sentenced former Prime Minister Imran Khan to 14 years in prison in a land corruption case, disrupting nascent talks between his party and the government aimed at reducing political instability.

The verdict was delivered by an anti-corruption court at a jail in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, where Khan has been detained since August 2023.

Khan’s wife, Bushra Bibi, was also found guilty and sentenced to 7 years in prison. Bibi, who had been released on bail, was detained after the verdict was announced, according to Geo News.

Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar told reporters that Khan’s party may appeal to higher courts to challenge the verdict and that Khan himself may submit a “mercy petition” to the President of Pakistan.

Omar Ayub, one of Khan’s aides, stated that the party would challenge the decision in the high courts.

The 72-year-old former prime minister had been on trial on charges that he and his wife were gifted land by a property developer in exchange for illegal favors during his premiership from 2018 to 2022. Khan and Bibi had pleaded not guilty.

The case is linked to the Al-Qadir Trust, a non-governmental organization established by the couple while Khan was in office.

Prosecutors allege that the trust was a front for Khan to illegally acquire land from a property developer. They claim he was given 60 acres (24 hectares) near Islamabad and another large plot close to his hilltop mansion in the capital.

Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party argues that the land was not for personal gain but for a spiritual and educational institution founded by the former prime minister.

“While awaiting the detailed judgment, it is important to note that the Al-Qadir Trust case against Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi lacks solid foundations and is doomed to collapse,” the PTI’s foreign press wing said in a statement.

The announcement of the verdict was postponed three times, most recently on Monday, due to reconciliation talks between the PTI and the government. The two sides have been at odds since Khan was ousted in 2022.

The decision marks the biggest setback for Khan and his party since they performed surprisingly well in the 2024 general elections, when PTI candidates, who had to contest as independents, won the most seats but failed to secure the majority needed to form a government.

Khan, who has been in jail since August 2023, has faced dozens of cases ranging from corruption and abuse of office to inciting violence against the state after he was removed from office in a parliamentary vote of no confidence in April 2022.

Except for this case and another involving accusations of inciting his supporters to attack military installations to protest his arrest on May 9, 2023, he was either acquitted or had sentences suspended in most cases.

His supporters have led numerous large protest rallies since the events of May 9.

Khan’s trials were held in prison for security reasons.

Imran Khan maintains that he has been subjected to a “political coup” and denies all corruption charges.