Close this content

Pakistan Court Upholds Imran Khan’s Conviction in Wedding Case

Kamran Haider

27 June 2024 at 6:14 am·2-min read

(Bloomberg) -- A Pakistani court upheld the last of Imran Khan’s jail sentences, dealing a blow to the former prime minister who has been in prison for about nine months and faces dozens of other court cases.

Most Read from Bloomberg

A sessions court judge upheld a seven-year jail sentence for Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, in an unlawful marriage case, according to his lawyer Shoaib Shaheen. “We have the option to challenge the order in a higher court,” he said by phone.

The couple were sent to prison for violating an Islamic law that requires women who have divorced to complete a waiting period before they can remarry.

The decision is a major set back for Khan who had three other convictions suspended by the courts. The 71-year-old politician has been in jail since August.

Khan was the first Pakistani prime minister ousted from power through a parliamentary no-confidence vote more than two years ago after his relationship with the powerful military turned sour. He has said the legal cases are politically motivated and designed to prevent him from staging a comeback — an allegation Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the military leadership have denied.

Ahead of Thursday’s decision, Rana Sanaullah, the prime minister’s adviser on political affairs said the government would block Khan’s release as he could cause more disturbance. “The government’s position will be to keep him behind bars as long as possible,” Sanaullah told Geo TV on Wednesday.

Khan-backed candidates won the most parliamentary seats in February after an election marred by violence and allegations of rigging. But they fell short of a majority and Khan’s rivals moved quickly to form government in what political analysts said was in part due to support from the military.

The generals have ruled directly or behind the scenes for much of Pakistan’s history. The military plays a major role in foreign and security policies even though it has publicly said it is apolitical and wishes to work within its constitutional rights.

Politicians partly rely on the military to become prime minister but fallouts can see them eventually get ousted and face jail time on allegations ranging from corruption and murder to treason.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.

Bloomberg
Biden’s Disastrous Debate Accelerates Doubts Over Candidacy
(Bloomberg) -- President Joe Biden bet that a debate with Republican Donald Trump would boost his moribund reelection campaign. His gamble failed.Most Read from BloombergBiden's Defiance Has Democrats Fearing They'll Lose White HouseGavin Newsom Is Ready for the Biden EmergencyThe Question on Democrats’ Minds: How to Replace Biden?Biden’s Disastrous Debate Accelerates Doubts Over CandidacySupreme Court Overturns Chevron Rule in Blow to Agency PowerA weary president looked every day of his 81 yea
Bloomberg
Last-Minute Macron-Scholz Move Enrages EU Leaders at Summit
(Bloomberg) -- France and Germany are used to getting their way on the EU stage. But when the bloc’s two biggest economies turned up at Thursday’s crucial European Union summit distracted by their own domestic troubles, they found it harder to throw their weight around. Most Read from BloombergGavin Newsom Is Ready for the Biden EmergencyThe Question on Democrats’ Minds: How to Replace Biden?Biden’s Disastrous Debate Accelerates Doubts Over CandidacyPanicked Emails, Gallows Humor: The Aftermath
Associated Press
Putin calls for resuming production of intermediate missiles after scrapping of treaty with US
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday called for resuming production of intermediate-range missiles that were banned under a now-scrapped treaty with the United States. The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty, or INF, which banned ground-based nuclear and conventional missiles with a range of 500-5,500 kilometers (310-3,410 miles), was regarded as an arms control landmark when Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and U.S. President Ronald Reagan signed it in 1988. The U.S. withdrew from the treaty in 2019, citing Russian violations.
AFP
Saudi foreign minister did not dismiss Ukraine peace summit as a 'clown show'
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan told world leaders at a Ukraine peace summit in Switzerland that any "credible process" needed Russia's involvement, but he did not describe it as a "clown show" and "meaningless" as Chinese social media posts claimed. Saudi Arabia was among several countries that maintain close ties with Moscow that did not endorse a joint communique issued at the summit after Russia was not invited.
AFP
Xi says China planning 'major' reforms ahead of key political meeting
Chinese President Xi Jinping said Friday the ruling Communist Party was planning and implementing "major" reforms, ahead of a closely watched political conclave that is expected to put economic recovery high on the agenda.Xi said in a speech on Friday policymakers "are planning and implementing major measures to further deepen reform in a comprehensive manner".
The Telegraph
‘This wasn’t a debate, it was a medical emergency’: Our writers give their verdicts
Follow the latest reaction in our live blog
The Telegraph
A Labour landslide would leave the UK unrecognisable
Until now, Sir Keir Starmer has carefully hidden the Labour Party’s radical, hard-Left agenda from the public. But on the brink of the largest majority in nearly a century, his mask has slipped.
Manchester Evening News
Footage shows out-of-control XL Bully being chased by armed cops before being shot dead following horror attack on woman
GMP said the dog had to be destroyed 'as the last possible option'
The Independent
A pair of siblings were stabbed and the sister’s dying words were that the killer was a man from Detroit. Thirty-four years later, he’s been arrested.
Pamela Sumpter, was raped and stabbed, and her brother John Sumpter was stabbed to death, at their Georgia home on July 15, 1990
The Telegraph
Donald Trump is going to turn Starmer’s Britain into an international laughing stock
Grandfather Robert Blackstock, a retired engineer from Nottinghamshire, became the “Brenda from Bristol” of this election campaign when he asked Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer during Wednesday night’s TV debate: “Are you two really the best we’ve got to be the next prime minister of our great country?”
The Telegraph
‘Trillion dollar trainwreck’: US super stealth fighter is eating the next generation
All of a sudden, the US Air Force is considering cancelling a multibillion-dollar effort to develop a new stealth fighter. Citing the high cost of the so-called “Next-Generation Air Dominance” programme and the competing demands of other projects, USAF leaders have warned they may have no choice but to cancel NGAD – and find other ways of winning control of the air in future wars.
The Telegraph
German woman given harsher sentence than rapist for calling him ‘pig’
A woman in Germany has been given a harsher sentence than a convicted rapist after she was found guilty of defaming him.
The Telegraph
Did Nigel Farage blow himself up in the BBC Question Time election special? Our writers react
It was finally Nigel Farage’s time to appear before a BBC Question Time audience this evening, more than a week after Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer had theirs. The Reform UK leader took the podium in the same hour as a Green Party representative, Adrian Ramsay. Yet only one of these men has excited reaction from our writers.
News Shopper
Busy London station CLOSED with major police presence and cordons in place
A busy central London train station has been closed, with a major police presence at the scene.
The Guardian
London Pride: Sadiq Khan leads 32,000 marchers through capital
Annual LBGTQ+ celebration takes place with march between Hyde Park and Trafalgar Square
HuffPost
Critics Clown Trump's 'IDIOTIC' Electric Planes Remarks: 'Dumb As A Box Of Rocks'
"What happens if the sun isn’t shining while you’re up in the air?” the former president asked at a rally in Virginia.
News Shopper
‘Hero’ London firefighter raped and abused his own kids in ‘house of horrors’
A brother and sister who helped jail their dad Brian Doye decades after he raped and sexually abused them have spoken out.
The Telegraph
Labour plan to put middle-class people ‘at back of queue for access to services’
Labour plans to force public bodies to put middle-class people at the back of the queue for taxpayer-funded services including policing, schools and refuse collection, its opponents claim.
Business Insider
Hezbollah has the weapons to carry out its threat against Cyprus
Hezbollah may be using Cyprus as a "stand-in" to threaten a nearby NATO country, a regional expert said.
HuffPost
'F**K': Jon Stewart Goes Ballistic With Unfiltered Live Reaction To Trump-Biden Debate
The "Daily Show" host said "this cannot be real life" after Thursday night's TV matchup between the current president and the former one.