ISLAMABAD: An accountability court in Pakistan on Friday sentenced former prime minister Imran Khan to 14 years in prison after he was convicted along with his wife of receiving land as a bribe from a real-estate tycoon, Khan’s party said.
The case involved a charitable entity, Al-Qadir Trust, set up by Khan and his third wife Bushra Khan in 2018 when he was still in office. The court sentenced Khan’s wife to seven years in prison in the case.
Pakistani authorities say the trust was a front for the couple to receive valuable land as a bribe from a real estate developer, Malik Riaz Hussain, who is one of Pakistan’s richest and most powerful businessmen. Hussain, like Khan and Bushra, denies any wrongdoing.
In response to Friday’s verdict, Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party said while it awaited a detailed judgment, the case against Khan and his wife “lacks any solid foundation and is bound to collapse.”
“All evidence and witness testimonies confirm that there has been no mismanagement or wrongdoing,” the PTI said in a statement. “Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi are merely trustees with no further involvement in the matter.”
The announcement of the verdict in the Al-Qadir Trust case had already been postponed thrice before, drawing criticism from Khan’s party.
Khan, while speaking to journalists inside the Adyala jail in Rawalpindi where Judge Nasir Javed Rana announced the decision, said the verdict had “tarnished the reputation” of the country’s judiciary.
“In this case, neither I benefited nor the government lost [anything]. I don’t want any relief, will face all cases,” he said. “My wife is a housewife, who has nothing to do with this phony case. Wife was given sentence to infuriate me.”
Pakistan’s government said the country’s judiciary was independent to make decisions and Khan had failed to offer evidence to prove his innocence.
“This case has run for a period of more than a year, testimonies were recorded in it. The Tehreek-e-Insaf founder had the right to present evidence in his defense... he did not present witnesses in defense,” Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said.
“Now, he has the right to file an appeal.”
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar called the Al-Qadir Trust case the “biggest mega corruption case” in Pakistan’s history, saying that Khan’s party fought it on “political basis.”
“The defense counsel fought this case politically. He did not fight the case on merit, based on evidence, and it has also been written in the verdict that the defense counsel could neither present evidence of [Khan and his wife’s] innocence, nor he could give a satisfactory response to the prosecution’s evidence,” he said.
“This case was fought on political basis, in media.”
Authorities say the Al-Qadir Trust scheme originated with 190 million pounds repatriated to Pakistan in 2019 by Britain after Hussain forfeited cash and assets to settle a British probe into whether they were proceeds of crime. Instead of putting it in Pakistan’s treasury, Khan’s government is accused of using the money to pay fines levied by a court against Hussain for illegal acquisition of government lands at below-market value for development in Karachi.
Khan, who has been in jail since August 2023 and faces a slew of legal cases, says all charges against him are politically motivated and being backed by his political rivals led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the country’s all-powerful military. Both deny the allegations.
Pakistan court sentences ex-PM Imran Khan to 14 years in prison in land bribe case
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Pakistan court sentences ex-PM Imran Khan to 14 years in prison in land bribe case
- The case involves a charitable entity, Al-Qadir Trust, set up by the ex-premier and his wife Bushra Khan in 2018
- Authorities say the trust was a front for the couple to receive valuable land as bribe from a real estate developer
What are the cases against Pakistan’s former PM Imran Khan and his wife?
- Khan, who was ousted from office in 2022, has been behind bars for more than a year
- On Friday, ex-PM was convicted of receiving land in bribe from a real estate developer
A Pakistani court on Friday sentenced former Prime Minister Imran Khan to 14 years imprisonment and his wife Bushra Bibi to seven years in a land corruption case, his legal team said.
The verdict in the case, the largest in terms of financial wrongdoing faced by Khan, was delivered by an anti-graft court in a prison in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, where Khan has been jailed since August 2023.
Here are some of the allegations against the 72-year-old former cricket star, named in dozens of cases since he was ousted from office in 2022 that have kept him behind bars for more than a year.
GRAFT ALLEGATIONS
On Friday, Khan was convicted on charges that he and his wife were gifted land by a real estate developer during his premiership from 2018 to 2022 in exchange for illegal favors.
He was first arrested in May 2023 in this case, on allegations that the couple received land worth up to 7 billion rupees ($25.12 million) as a bribe through a trust created in 2018.
His Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has maintained the land was donated for charitable purposes.
Bibi was taken into custody on Friday after being released on bail in October in another case.
STATE GIFTS
\Khan was arrested in August 2023 for allegedly selling gifts worth more than 140 million rupees that he received during his premiership and which belonged in state possession. Khan and Bibi were indicted on fresh charges in December after they were sentenced in two other versions of the case, although the sentences have been suspended. The couple has denied any wrongdoing.
ABETTING VIOLENCE
Khan faces anti-terrorism charges in connection with the violence that followed his arrest in May 2023, and in relation to which several of his supporters have already been sentenced.
He was indicted in December and is on trial.
STATE SECRETS
Khan was accused of making public a classified cable sent to Islamabad by Pakistan’s ambassador in Washington in 2022, while he still held office. He was acquitted in the case in June.
UNLAWFUL MARRIAGE
Khan and his wife were accused of breaking Islamic law by failing to observe the mandated waiting period between Bibi’s divorce from her previous husband and their marriage in 2018. They were acquitted of the charges in July.
Death toll rises to 10 in Pakistan supply convoy ambush — police
- The attack happened Thursday when trucks carrying food, medicine and other relief supplies were heading to Kurram
- Five drivers were still missing and their trucks had been burned by the attackers, a local police official says
Peshawar: The death toll from an ambush on a Pakistan convoy bringing supplies to a region besieged by sectarian fighting rose to 10 on Friday, police said, while up to six drivers have been kidnapped.
The Thursday ambush targeted a convoy of 33 vehicles set to resupply local traders in the northwest Kurram region with rice, flour and cooking oil and two aid vehicles carrying essential medicine.
“The deceased include two security personnel, four drivers... and four civilians,” a local police official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
“There are reports that five to six drivers have been abducted by a local tribe,” he said.
Kurram has been wracked by Sunni-Shiite violence for decades, but around 140 people have been killed since a fresh bout of fighting broke out in November.
As feuding tribes have battled with machine guns and heavy weapons, the remote and mountainous region bordering Afghanistan has been largely cut off from the outside world.
Numerous ceasefires have been touted, most recently on January 1, but none have stopped the violence.
Wildlife authorities seek declaration of fifth biosphere reserve for endangered Indus dolphins in Pakistan
- Biosphere reserves are protected areas that aim to balance the conservation of biodiversity with its sustainable use
- The number of endangered Indus dolphins has grown to 2,100 in Pakistan amid conservation efforts in recent years
ISLAMABAD: Wildlife authorities in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province seek another biosphere reserve for endangered Indus dolphins in Pakistan and have requested their counterparts in Sindh and Punjab provinces to take up the matter with the federal climate change ministry, aiming to boost conservation and scientific assessment of the endangered species.
Biosphere reserves are protected areas that aim to balance the conservation of biodiversity with its sustainable use. They are part of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) Man and Biosphere (MAB) program, which was launched in the 1970s.
Currently, there are 738 biosphere reserves in 134 countries of the world. Four of them are in Pakistan, including two in KP and one each in Punjab and Balochistan provinces of the South Asian country, where authorities say the number of Indus dolphins has grown to 2,100.
There are several other potential sites, including the Indus River and associated riparian areas or wetlands along KP’s Dera Ismail Khan district, which can be declared biosphere reserves for blind Indus dolphins, according to KP Chief Wildlife Conservator Dr. Mohsin Farooque.
“KP Wildlife Department suggests that the area of the proposed Indus Blind Dolphin Biosphere Reserve may be extended to include the habitat falling in Punjab and Sindh provinces to cover the entire range of Dolphin and conserve its habitat along Indus River in Layyah, Rajanpur, DG [Dera Ghazi] Khan, Muzaffargarh etc. in Punjab and Sukkur etc. in Sindh,” Dr. Farooque said in a letter to Punjab and Sindh wildlife authorities.
“This will help conserve the entire ecosystem along Indus River, including associated riparian and wetland areas on both sides of the Indus River.”
The Indus River dolphin (Platanista gangetica minor) and the Ganges River dolphin, also known as “susu,” (Platanista gangetica gangetica) are two river dolphin subspecies that are today the only surviving members of a once primitive and widespread group of archaic cetaceans that swam in the ancient Tethys Sea 50 million years ago, according to experts.
As the sea levels dropped and lands shifted, the freshwater Indus River dolphins were left behind in inland rivers in what is present-day Pakistan. Their survival is crucial to the local eco-structure.
Dr. Farooque said wildlife did not recognize man-made boundaries and fulfilled their requirements and life cycle within their home range irrespective of district, province or country.
“It is, therefore, requested to take necessary measures to take up the case with Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination, Islamabad for declaration of Indus Biosphere Reserve along Indus in relevant districts of
Punjab and Sindh and promote transboundary management... for effective conservation of the endemic Indus blind dolphin,” he added.
Pakistan launches indigenous satellite to predict natural disasters
- The EO-1 satellite will be launched from China’s Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center
- It can provide timely updates on floods, landslides, quakes and glacier recession
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has launched its first fully indigenous Electro-Optical (EO-1) satellite today, Friday, to help predict natural disasters and monitor resources, Pakistani state media reported.
The EO-1 satellite will be launched from China’s Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The launch represents the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission’s (SUPARCO) dedication and expertise in advancing Pakistan’s technological capabilities in space science.
The satellite will enhance the country’s ability to monitor and manage natural resources, predict and respond to natural disasters, support food security and drive economic growth through informed decision-making and sustainable development.
“Designed and developed entirely by Pakistani engineers, EO-1 satellite is expected to provide substantial benefits across various sectors,” the Radio Pakistan broadcaster reported.
Pakistan has witnessed erratic, frequent changes in its weather patterns, including floods, droughts, cyclones, torrential rainstorms, heatwaves and the slow-onset threat of glacial melting, in recent years that scientists have blamed on human-driven climate change.
In 2022, unusually heavy rains triggered floods in many parts of the country, killing over 1,700 people, inflicting economic losses of around $30 billion, and affecting at least 30 million people.
In urban development, the EO-1 satellite can help track infrastructure growth, manage urban sprawl and aid city and regional planning efforts. It will provide timely updates on floods, landslides, earthquakes, deforestation and land erosion in terms of environmental monitoring and disaster management, according to Pakistani state media.
The satellite will also support extraction and conservation strategies for natural resources, such as the monitoring of minerals, oil and gas fields, glacier recession and water resources.
Pakistan has taken strides in its space research program in the past few months. In Nov. last year, SUPARCO announced its rover will join China’s Chang’E 8 mission to explore the moon’s surface in 2028.
In May 2024, Pakistan launched its first lunar satellite aboard China’s Chang’e-6 probe, which was tasked with landing on the far side of the moon that perpetually faces away from the Earth. China was the first country to make such an ambitious attempt.
Pakistan win toss, elect to bat in 1st Test against West Indies
- A spin-heavy Pakistan playing XI includes debutant Mohammad Hurraira, who scored half centuries in both innings of a three-day warm-up game against West Indies
- The tourists awarded Test debut to 28-year-old wicketkeeper-batter Tevin Imlach, who has scored 1097 runs in 22 games since making his first-class debut in Dec. 2018
MULTAN: Spin-heavy Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat in the first Test against the West Indies on Friday.
Heavy fog delayed the start of the Test match between the two bottom-placed teams of the World Test Championship before Pakistan captain Shan Masood won the coin toss after lunch and opted to bat on a dry wicket tailor-made for spinners.
Pakistan is at No. 8 and West Indies is at No. 9 on the WTC points table after performing under-par over the last one year in red-ball cricket. Australia and South Africa have already qualified for June 11-15 WTC final at Lord’s.
Pakistan has lost eight of its last 10 Test matches while West Indies has yet to win a Test series in this WTC cycle, losing to India, England and South Africa while drawing against Australia and Bangladesh.
One of the two Pakistan wins came at the Multan Cricket Stadium and on the same pitch when it beat England on an engineered dry wicket to favor the spin duo of Sajid Khan and Noman Ali.
Khan and Ali grabbed all 20 England wickets and will team up with recalled leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed to challenge the West Indies on another tailor-made spin wicket.
A spin-heavy Pakistan playing XI includes debutant Mohammad Hurraira, who scored half centuries in both innings of a three-day warm-up game against West Indies in Islamabad.
The 22-year-old Hurraira came in place of Saim Ayub, who has been ruled out of competitive cricket for at least six weeks after fracturing his right ankle during a Test match against South Africa at Cape Town earlier this month.
West Indies has dropped vice-captain Joshua Da Silva and will also be without ill fast bowler Kemar Roach.
The tourists awarded Test debut to 28-year-old wicketkeeper-batter Tevin Imlach, who has scored 1097 runs in 22 games since making his first class debut in Dec. 2018.
West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite said he would have liked to bat too on a dry pitch, but expected his bowlers to build dot-ball pressure with their disciplined line and lengths.
LINEUPS
Pakistan: Shan Masood (captain), Mohammad Hurraira, Babar Azam, Kamran Ghulam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan, Salman Ali Agha, Noman Ali, Sajid Khan, Abrar Ahmed, Khurram Shahzad.
West Indies: Kraigg Brathwaite (captain), Mikyle Louis, Keacy Carty, Alick Athanaze, Kavem Hodge, Kevin Sinclair, Justin Greaves, Tevin Imlach, Gudakesh Motie, Jomel Warrican, Jayden Seales.
