Pakistan Court Accepts Appeal Of Former PM Imran Khan And Suspends Sentence Of 14 Years In Prison

Imran Khan. (Wikimedia Commons/The White House)

JAKARTA - A Pakistani court on Monday granted a former Prime Minister Imran Khan's appeal on corruption charges, suspending a sentence of 14 years in prison, his lawyer said.

Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi were sentenced to 14 years in prison on charges of illegally selling state gifts by an anti-corruption court, a week before the February 8 elections.

"There is no evidence to support this sentence," lawyer Khan Ali Zafar told reporters outside the court in Islamabad, saying that is why the court suspended the sentence at the first appeal hearing.

Khan and his wife were charged with selling gifts illegally, worth more than 140 million rupees (US $ 500,000) received during the 2018-2022 prime ministerial term, from the state treasury known locally as "Tosakhahana".

The list of gifts distributed by the former minister of information includes perfume, diamond jewelry, dinner sets and seven watches, six of which are Rolex, the most expensive being the "finite edition of theff cluster" worth 85 million rupees (US$304,000).

The Islamabad High Court said corruption sentences against the couple would remain suspended until a final decision on the sentence would be used as arguments and evidence as the main petition after the Eid holiday, Zafar said.

Despite the suspension, Khan will remain jailed with several other sentences imposed on the former cricket star ahead of the election, which also disqualified him from holding public office for 10 years.

Khan was also sentenced to three years in prison in August on the same charges by another court, but the sentence has been suspended at the appeal level.

Khan and his party said legal cases against him were based on fabricated accusations, to keep him out of politics at the behest of the country's strong army after he clashed with military generals. The army denies the allegations.