A Pakistani court indicts imprisoned former PM Imran Khan and his wife for corruption
FILE - Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan, right, and Bushra Bibi, his wife, speak to the media before signing documents to submit surety bond over his bails in different cases, at an office of Lahore High Court in Lahore, Pakistan, on July 17, 2023. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary, File)
ISLAMABAD (AP) — A Pakistani court on Thursday indicted imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife in one of several graft cases they face, officials and his party said.
Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi pleaded not guilty when a judge in the garrison city of Rawalpindi read them the charges. The couple is accused of keeping and selling state gifts including jewelry they received when Khan was in office, at a value less than their market price.
Under Pakistan’s laws, government officials and politicians are allowed to keep gifts they receive while in office from foreign dignitaries, but must pay their market value and declare how much they earned from their sales.
The hearing of the case was adjourned until Dec. 18 after the indictment of Khan and Bibi.
This is the second such corruption case against the couple. Khan and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, or PTI, have said all the cases against the couple are politically motivated and are designed to keep him in prison. He has been behind bars for over a year since his conviction in another case in 2023.
Khan has been embroiled in nearly 200 criminal cases since his ouster in a no-confidence vote in parliament in 2022.