A court in Pakistan on Saturday sentenced former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi to 17 years in prison after being found guilty of corruption.
The court's decision is the latest setback for Khan, who has been accused in multiple cases since he was ousted in 2022.
Khan, who is 73, has been in prison since 2023. He denies the charges, accusing Pakistani authorities of politically persecuting him.
Khan and Bibi were found guilty of retaining, selling and underpricing state gifts while the former prime minister was in office.
The gifts they were accused of selling at vastly reduced prices included jewelry from the Saudi Arabian government.
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman presented a jewellery set made by the Italian luxury brand Bulgari to Khan and his wife in May 2021.
Prosecutors said Khan and his wife had said the value of the gifts was just over $10,000, well short of their real market value of $285,521 (€243,780).
According to Pakistani law, government officials and politicians are allowed to keep gifts received from foreign dignitaries if they are under a certain value. To keep the gifts, they must purchase them at market value and declare the proceeds from any sale.
Khan and Bibi were sentenced to 10 years for criminal breach of trust and seven years for corruption.
Saturday's sentencing is separate from an earlier case against the couple. In that case, Khan and his wife were sentenced to 14 and seven years, respectively.
Khan's lawyer, Salman Safdar, has said the couple will appeal the ruling.
A spokesperson for Khan, Zulfiquar Bukhari, slammed the sentence, which he said "raises serious questions about the fairness and impartiality of the process, turning justice into a tool for selective prosecution."
Khan's party, the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party (PTI), also condemned the ruling.
In a statement, it called the decision "a black chapter in history."
In a post on X, the party said Khan's family had been barred from the court when the verdict was announced at the Adiala prison in Rawalpindi.
"A closed-door jail trial is neither free nor fair. It is, in fact, a military trial," PTI said.
While Khan's supporters and party roundly condemned the verdict, Pakistan's Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the court had "delivered a fair decision."
Khan was removed from power in a no-confidence vote in April 2022. His PTI party is in opposition in parliament.
Despite the multiple corruption convictions, Khan — a former cricket star who captained the national team — remains a popular figure in Pakistan.
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