Pakistan ex-PM Khan and wife Bushra Bibi jailed for illegal marriage
ISLAMABAD - A Pakistani court has jailed Imran Khan and his wife for seven years after voiding their marriage, in the latest sentence against the ex-prime minister.
The court ruled that Khan's 2018 marriage with Bushra Bibi, a faith healer, was un-Islamic and illegal.
He is already in jail for corruption. Last Wednesday, a week before a general election, the pair were convicted of profiting from state gifts.
Khan, 71, has said the numerous cases against him are politically motivated. Pakistan's former cricket captain-turned-politician was ousted as prime minister in 2022.
A court was set up inside the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, where Khan is serving his previous sentences, for the latest case.
The complaint was filed by Bibi's ex-husband, who said her marriage with Khan had been fraudulent.
Under Muslim family law, women are prohibited from remarrying for a few months after their husband dies or they are divorced. The court found that Bibi had remarried before the completion of the stipulated time following her divorce.
As well as the seven-year jail sentence, the court imposed a fine of $1, 800 on Khan and Bibi.
The couple married in 2018, months before Khan was elected prime minister. Bibi, a spiritual healer believed to be in her 40s and always wears a veil in public, is Khan's third wife.
Saturday's prison sentence is Khan's third in less than a week. On Tuesday, he was jailed for 10 years for leaking classified documents.
Wednesday's court case centred on accusations that he and his wife had sold or kept state gifts received in office, including jewellery from the Saudi Crown Prince.