Khan’s wife serves sentence at home

– The wife of former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan – jailed alongside her husband on Wednesday for 14 years for graft – is serving her sentence at home after their residence was officially declared a “sub-jail” by authorities.

Bushra Bibi, a Muslim faith healer who met Khan when he approached her for spiritual guidance, handed herself in to authorities on Wednesday shortly after the pair were sentenced in a case involving the sale of foreign gifts received while he was premier.

Khan, who was also sentenced to 10 years in jail on Tuesday in a separate case after being found guilty of leaking state secrets, remains at Adiala jail in Rawalpindi, where the trial was held.

The former international cricketer and his legal team have slammed the convictions and myriad other charges as a ploy by the military-led establishment to keep him from returning to power in elections next week.

Late on Wednesday, the government said Bibi had been transferred to her home on the outskirts of Islamabad from Adiala jail. The Khan home – a rambling bungalow in a large compound surrounded by high concrete walls – is in the plush Bani Gala area of the capital.

Pakistan goes to the polls on 8 February in a ballot already marred by allegations of rigging, with Khan barred from running and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party subject to a massive crackdown.

Thousands of supporters were detained when riots broke out after Khan’s first arrest last year.

Bibi is a polarising figure whose marriage to Khan scandalised the nation. –