Pakistan court suspends Imran Khan's prison sentence in state gifts case
A court in Pakistan has decided to suspend the jail sentence of former Prime Minister Imran Khan in a case related to the illegal sale of state gifts.
Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi were both sentenced to 14 years in prison on January 31 in connection with this case, just a week before the February 8 elections, which Khan's party alleges were marred by rigging.
The Islamabad High Court announced on Monday that the sentence for the couple would be temporarily suspended until a decision is reached on the case after the upcoming Eid holidays, which commence in 10 days.
Imran Khan, aged 71, is accused of failing to disclose assets from the sale of state gifts amounting to more than 140 million rupees ($504,000) that he received during his tenure as prime minister from 2018 to April 2022.
The case was filed by Pakistan's anticorruption agency, which accused Khan and his wife of unlawfully buying and selling the gifts.
The sentencing rendered the couple ineligible to contest public office for a period of 10 years, and they were also fined 787 million rupees ($2.8 million) each.
Imran Khan, the founder of the main opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, has been in prison since August last year on various charges.
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