• Judge finds ex-PM, his wife guilty of corrupt practices in long-awaited verdict of £190 million Al-Qadir Trust case
• PTI founder gets 14, Bushra 7 years under NAB law as court finds ‘no mitigating circumstances’
• Al-Qadir University property forfeited to federal govt
ISLAMABAD: After multiple delays and postponements, an accountability court in the capital finally convicted former prime minister Imran Khan and his spouse Bushra Bibi in the £190 million Al-Qadir Trust corruption case, sentencing both to prison.
The verdict, announced by Judge Nasir Javed Rana in the makeshift courtroom at Adiala Jail on Friday, marks the first conviction for the former PM and PTI founder in a corruption matter, as his earlier convictions in the cipher, iddat and Toshakhana cases did not involve allegations of corruption.
“The accused Imran Ahmed Khan is hereby held guilty for commission of offence of corruption and corrupt practices as defined under section 9… of the National Accountability Ordinance… He is hereby convicted. There is no mitigating circumstances (sic). He is sentenced under section 10 (a) of the NAO to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 14 years,” the verdict said.
The judge also imposed Rs1 million fine on Mr Khan, and sentenced his wife Bushra Bibi to seven years rigorous imprisonment along with a fine of Rs500,000.
In case they were unable to pay the fine, the court warned them of another six and 3 months in prison, respectively.
As per the verdict, the “property of the sham… Al-Qadir University Project Trust” is hereby forfeited to the federal government.
