Pakistan: Ex-PM Imran Khan, Bushra Bibi get 7-yr imprisonment, fined for illegal marriage

Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Khan have been sentenced to seven years in prison and fined by a court for their 2018 marriage, which was deemed illegal. This is the third ruling against Khan this week and he is prohibited from participating in the upcoming national elections.

Khan and his wife were also found guilty of leaking state secrets and illegally selling state gifts. Khan's representatives have stated that they will appeal all three cases. The former Prime Minister is currently serving his sentence in Rawalpindi, while his wife will serve hers in their Islamabad residence, news agency PTI reported.

The couple were fined 500,000 rupees or $1,800 each. Commenting on Imran Khan's imprisonment, his party Pakistan Tehrerek-e-Insaf (PTI) said in a statement: "After hours of rushed hearings at court, no cross examination of witnesses, and no due process- a mockery of law." 

"With the way these trials are being conducted, there will be a huge question mark on the February 8th elections. This is a test case for Pakistan's higher judiciary," the statement further read. The couple signed the marriage contract or 'nikkah' in January 2018 in a secret ceremony months before Imran Khan became the Pakistan Prime Minister for the first time.

The Khans' marriage was contested due to alleged violation of the Islamic waiting period post-divorce, known as 'Iddat'. In Islam, Iddat is defined as the period a woman must observe after the death of her husband or after a divorce, during which she may not marry another man.

One of the key reasons behind Iddat is to remove any doubts regarding the paternity of a child born after the divorce or death of the previous husband. Usually, a woman has to observe the iddat for three lunar months or around 89 days but there is no iddat if the marriage was not consummated. 

"Can say I’m a witness in the Nikkah and it’s a categorically yet another fake case," Khan's media advisor Zulfi Bukhari told Reuters. "From witnesses to the evidence to the procedure."

Bushra's ex-husband, Khawar Maneka, filed a criminal complaint against the couple. Imran Khan, who has often referred to his wife as his spiritual guide, has been battling several cases since his dismissal from power in 2022.

(With agency inputs)

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