Former Pakistan PM and wife Bushra Bibi jailed for corruption

 Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi have been jailed for 14 years, the second sentence handed to Pakistan's former prime minister in two days.

Wednesday's court case revolved around accusations over state gifts that he and his wife received while in office, while Tuesday's case - for which he was sentenced to 10 years - for leaking classified state documents. It is thought the two sentences will run concurrently, although that has not been confirmed.

The court has also ordered the couple to pay a fine of about 1.5 billion rupees (£4.2m; $5.3m).

Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party also said that the sentencing further bans their leader from future political work: he will be disqualified for 10 years from holding public office.

Khan's lawyers said they would be launching an appeal to Pakistan's High Court in both cases.


His wife Bushra Bibi, who had been out on remand, surrendered at the jail on Wednesday. She has typically kept a low profile during their period in office. The two married in 2018, months before Khan was elected prime minister.

The man tipped to win is three-time former PM Nawaz Sharif, who returned from self-imposed exile in the autumn. He was a thorn in the side of the powerful military for much of his long career and was jailed for corruption ahead of the 2018 election that Imran Khan won.

Now many believe he is currently preferred by the Pakistan military establishment, while Khan - who used to be seen as close to the military - has fallen out of favour.

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