This new verdict was announced by a special court during a hearing in Rawalpindi Jail.Image: keystone
December 20, 2025, 12:37 p.mDecember 20, 2025, 12:37 p.m
Former cricket star and former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan (73) has been sentenced to 17 years in prison by a court in another corruption case. This prison sentence for withholding luxurious state gifts will follow the current 14 years in prison that Khan was sentenced to in January for a separate corruption case, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar told the press.
A special court announced this new verdict during a hearing in Rawalpindi prison, where the 73-year-old has been imprisoned for more than two years. Khan’s party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), criticized the verdict, saying on website X: “A closed prison trial is neither free nor fair, it is in fact a military trial.” However, the government rejected the criticism. Khan’s wife, who was sentenced to seven years in prison in the trial in January, must also be behind bars for another 17 years.
Deposed as prime minister in 2022 after falling out with generals
The popular ex-prime minister remains one of Pakistan’s most popular personalities despite his imprisonment since August 2023 and the ongoing political marginalization of his party. Dozens of other criminal cases are ongoing against him. Khan denies the allegations and sees himself as a victim of a justice system that was abused for political purposes. His supporters regularly protest for his release.
Khan came to power after the disputed 2018 parliamentary elections and was once supported by the country’s powerful military. After a falling out with the generals, he was removed from office in 2022 by a vote of no confidence in Parliament. Prime ministers in the South Asian country with more than 240 million inhabitants are repeatedly dismissed prematurely. The powerful military, which has governed itself for half of the time since the state was founded in 1947, is considered to be crucial for the rise and fall of politicians in the nuclear-armed state. (sda/dpa)