A defiant Imran Khan has claimed the jail sentence for his alleged illegal marriage is an ‘attempt to humiliate’ him and vowed that he would ‘rather die’ than strike a deal with the authorities.
The former Prime Minister of Pakistan and his wife Bushra Bibi were sentenced to seven years in prison yesterday after a court ruled that they violated the law that a woman must wait three months before marrying again.
Bibi was previously married to a man who claimed that they divorced in November 2017, less than three months before she married Khan on January 1, 2018. Bibi has said they divorced in August 2017.
Khan has labelled the conviction – his third this week – as an attempt to ‘humiliate and disgrace’ him and his wife, adding that this was the first time in 14 years anyone was jailed in Pakistan over an alleged illegal marriage.
The latest verdict follows another case in which Khan, 71, and Bibi, 49, were sentenced to 14 years in prison on Wednesday for corruption.
The former cricketer was also handed 10 year sentence on the day before for leaking state secrets. His sentences total 31 years, but they will be served concurrently.
Previously calling the convictions an attempt to undermine him politically, Khan remained defiant and vowed that he has not accepted a deal and would ‘rather die’ than to cut one in the future, according to local media.
Imran Khan (pictured in 2023) has labelled the conviction – his third this week – as an attempt to ‘humiliate and disgrace’ him and his wife, adding that this was the first time in 14 years anyone was jailed in Pakistan over an alleged illegal marriage
The former Prime Minister of Pakistan and his wife Bushra Bibi (pictured together in 2023) were sentenced to seven years in prison yesterday after a court ruled that they violated the law that a woman must wait three months before marrying again
Bibi is Khan’s third wife, following from Jemima Goldsmith, who was married to the former sportsman for nine years and former BBC weathergirl Reham Khan, who spent just 10 months with Khan.
Bibi and Khan denied they violated the three-month waiting period – a requirement of Islamic law and upheld by Pakistan. Khan and his family insist the trial is politically motivated.
The ruling was condemned by Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party. Its head, Gohar Khan, told reporters that Khan will appeal.
‘This is a bogus case against Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi, but still they were given maximum prison sentence by the court,’ he said. The couple were also fined 500,000 rupees ($1,800) each.
On Wednesday, Khan and Bibi were both found guilty of retaining and selling state gifts he received while in office for personal profit and were both sentenced to 14 years in jail.
Bibi then handed herself to authorities at the Adiala prison in Rawalpindi, close to Pakistan’s capital Islamabad, shortly after the verdict.
She was quickly relocated to Khan’s residence in Bani Gala, in Islamabad, where she will spend her sentence under house arrest following requests from the Punjab and federal governments, according to local media.
Authorities are reportedly looking into how to make the house as ‘secure and comfortable’ as possible for Khan’s wife.
The decision to put Bibi under house arrest in the residence rather than into a prison has sparked outrage from the opposition parties, who have accused the government of giving preferential treatment to the ex PM and his wife.
Bibi was reportedly the first Pakistani First Lady to wear a Niqab
Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan with his wife Bushra Bibi arrive to appear at a high court in Lahore on May 15, 2023
An activist of the opposition party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) holds a portrait of Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan during an anti-government rally on October 28, 2022
Bibi rarely appears in public and only wearing a face-covering hijab when she does
The former Prime Minister of Pakistan and his wife Buschra Bibi were both found guilty of retaining and selling state gifts he received while in office for personal profit (file image)
Bibi, a faith healer who met Khan when he approached her for spiritual guidance, rarely appeared in public over the years and could only be seen wearing a face-covering hijab whenever she showed herself in public in the past.
Her conviction was an attempt to pressurise Khan further, acting chairman of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party and lawyer Gohar Ali Khan said in a television interview. ‘Bushra Bibi has no link to this case,’ he added.
While Khan has been found guilty in the other two cases, this was the first sentencing for his wife, with the second following yesterday.
It comes as the country of 240 million goes to the polls next Thursday in a ballot already marred by allegations of rigging, with Khan barred from running and his PTI party subject to a massive crackdown.
Yesterday’s conviction was Khan’s fourth since 2022, when he was ousted from power.
Khan is currently serving multiple prison terms at Adiala prison in Rawalpindi, where his trials were held because of security concerns.
He is embroiled in more than 150 legal cases, including inciting people to violence after his arrest in May 2023.
During nationwide riots in May, Khan’s supporters attacked the military headquarters in Rawalpindi, stormed an air base in Mianwali in the eastern Punjab province and torched a building housing state-run Radio Pakistan in the northwest.
The violence subsided only when Khan was released at the time by the Supreme Court.
Policemen escort Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan upon his arrival at the high court in Islamabad on May 12, 2023
Imran Khan speaks while taking part in an anti-government march in Gujranwala in 2022
Khan delivers a speech to his supporters during a rally celebrate the 75th anniversary of Pakistan’s independence day in Lahore on August 13, 2022
A vendor holds a picture of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan following a court verdict imprisoning Khan for 10 years, in Peshawar, Pakistan, 30 January 2024
Khan was a former test cricketer for Pakistan before his controversial political career
Analysts say Khan’s multiple and apparently hasty convictions are seen by his party and supporters as punishment for his rhetoric against Pakistan’s powerful military leadership, which has ruled the country for half of its 76-year history.
Khan and Bibi also face another graft case, allegedly involving giving undue benefits to a property tycoon in return for establishing an Islamic university.
Since being ousted in 2022, Khan has been buried by court cases he claims have been triggered to prevent his return to office after a campaign of defiance against Pakistan’s military kingmakers.
The 71-year-old had accused the powerful military – with whom he ruled in partnership for much of his tenure – of orchestrating his ouster in a US-backed conspiracy.
When Khan was first arrested in May last year, riots broke out across the country.
But his street power was killed by a military crackdown that saw thousands of supporters detained – 100 of whom are facing closed-door military trials – and dozens of senior leaders forced underground.
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk