Pakistan: Imran Khan Sentenced to 14 Years

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Facts

  • On Wednesday, Pakistan's ex-Prime Minister Imran Khan received a 14-year prison term for corruption, adding to the 10 years he received the day before for allegedly leaking state secrets. The judge also barred Khan from holding political office for 10 years.1
  • This marks the second time that the former prime minister has been convicted in the same corruption case — which accuses him of unlawfully selling state gifts — after he was sentenced to a three-year prison term in August. Khan, who denies the allegations, has appealed last summer's ruling.2
  • Khan's wife, Bushra Bibi, was also convicted of keeping and selling state gifts when Khan was in office. Kahn's legal team said the conviction violated his rights because his lawyers were denied the ability to cross-examine witnesses and give a final statement.1
  • In addition to the prison sentence, both Khan and his wife were ordered to pay a fine of 787M rupees ($2.8M) each. A leading representative of Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party questioned the legality of the ruling, adding that the verdict would be challenged in higher courts.3
  • After successfully running for office in 2018, Khan lost a no-confidence vote in parliament in April 2022. He has since cited a leaked communication cable between US and Pakistani officials that he claims proves the two nations conspired to topple his administration — allegations that were at the center of the state secrets case. He claims the cable wasn't leaked by him.4
  • Khan and his PTI party remain popular, but other politicians within the party have also been banned from running in the Feb. 8 parliamentary elections.5

Sources: 1Guardian, 2REUTERS, 3Al Jazeera, 4Sky News and 5Associated Press.

Narratives

  • Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Vox. Khan has been mired in controversy and scandals for years, and the mounting evidence is too much to ignore. Khan has used his power to subvert democracy, including his attempt to dissolve parliament to escape the no-confidence vote that ousted him. Now, he's using his platform to bring Pakistan to the brink of civil war. While Khan should be pursued legally for his wrongdoings, the government should be careful not to turn this political crisis into something worse.
  • Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Middle East Eye. This is a sad day for Pakistan and democracy. Though Imran Khan is extremely popular among Pakistanis, global powers, particularly the US, want him removed from public life because he refuses to act as a puppet. Khan was wrongfully dismissed as prime minister in a coup, and now he is being jailed to ensure he never again represents the will of the people. For decades, Pakistani leaders the US doesn't like have conveniently been assassinated or imprisoned — Khan is just the latest victim.

Predictions