Khan was also served a fine of 1 million Pakistani rupees ($3,500), while Bibi was fined half that amount.
An accountability court operating from Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, where Khan has been imprisoned since August 2023, had reserved its verdict in December last year and deferred the announcement three times. Bibi was arrested from court premises.
Khan, who did not appear before the court on January 13 when the decision was delayed for a third time, had earlier claimed the delays were an attempt to “pressurise” him.
This marks the fourth major case in which the former prime minister has been convicted.
Three earlier convictions, announced in January last year, were related to selling state gifts, leaking state secrets, and unlawful marriage, all of which were overturned or suspended. Despite this, Khan remains behind bars, with dozens of cases pending against him – a situation he describes as a political witch-hunt.
Khan was first arrested in connection with the Al-Qadir Trust case in May 2023, spending less than two days in detention. However, the arrest led to nationwide protests during which Khan’s supporters rioted in multiple cities.
Faisal Fareed Chaudhry, Khan’s lawyer, condemned the decision as a continuation of “bogus persecution” against Khan and his wife.
“It is perhaps the only case where the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) couldn’t establish a loss of even a single penny,” the lawyer told Al Jazeera.
Chaudhry added that NAB failed to provide evidence of any financial loss to the state or any connection between the Al-Qadir Trust and personal financial gain for Khan or his family.
“Criminal proceedings against Khan and Bushra Bibi were not proven during prosecution. The entire case is politically motivated. I fail to understand how establishing a trust constitutes a conflict of interest,” the lawyer said.
The charge sheet accused Khan and his wife of acquiring land worth billions of rupees (millions of US dollars) for the Al-Qadir Trust from Malik Riaz, a prominent property tycoon in Pakistan, to establish a nonprofit educational institute for the poor.
The NAB alleged that Khan, as prime minister from August 2018 to April 2022, made a quid pro quo deal with Riaz, enabling him to launder more than $239m. This allegedly caused significant losses to the national treasury.
AzVision.az
