ANS: An accountability court has delivered a verdict against former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife, resulting in a 14-year prison sentence.
The charges stem from their involvement in the illegal acquisition and sale of gifts from Pakistan’s Toshakhana (treasure-house), a repository for foreign gifts given to government officials.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Imran Khan’s political party, confirmed the sentencing on Wednesday.
The Accountability Court not only imposed the substantial prison sentence but also levied a hefty fine of 787 million rupees (equivalent to 2.8 million U.S. dollars) on Khan and his wife. Additionally, both individuals have been barred from holding any public office for the next decade, according to PTI sources.
Toshakhana, responsible for storing and cataloging foreign gifts to government officials, has been under scrutiny for its alleged practices of selling these valuable items at a fraction of their original value.
Imran Khan’s conviction is a culmination of investigations into this alleged wrongdoing.
This verdict follows a series of legal troubles for Khan, as last August, a municipal court in Islamabad sentenced him to three years in prison for concealing his financial assets. Furthermore, earlier this week, Khan, along with former Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, received a 10-year prison sentence from an Official Secrets Act special court for purportedly breaching state secrets.