Jailed Imran Khan and his third spouse, Bushra Bibi, have pleaded ‘not responsible’ after being indicted by the Pakistan Court docket in an alleged land graft case.

Islamabad: A Pakistani court docket indicted jailed, opens new tab former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his third spouse Bushra Bibi on Tuesday on expenses that they allegedly obtained land as a bribe by misusing his workplace throughout his premiership, his celebration mentioned.

The newest expenses observe a string of convictions towards Khan within the months main as much as the Feb. 8 nationwide election, the place his supporters received essentially the most seats total.

Khan, 71, has been in jail since August in reference to different instances, and has beforehand denied the allegations.

Earlier Convictions Of Imran Khan

He had already been convicted in 4 instances with sentences of as a lot as 14 years in jail – together with two on graft expenses, that additionally disqualified him from collaborating in politics for 10 years.

His trials are being held on a jail’s premises on safety grounds.

The couple pleaded not responsible to the indictment expenses, Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) celebration mentioned.

Army Backed Crackdown

Candidates backed by the PTI received the most important variety of seats in parliament within the election earlier this month by defying all odds and what it says was a navy backed crackdown. His supporters ran as independents as an alternative of as a single bloc after his celebration was barred from the polls.

However his opposition events led by the Sharif and Bhutto dynasties cobbled collectively an alliance to kind a minority coalition authorities.

Use Of Al-Qadir Belief For Receiving Bribe

The newest indictment is said to Al-Qadir Belief, which is a non-governmental welfare group arrange by Khan and his third spouse Bushra Bibi in 2018 when he was nonetheless in workplace.

Prosecutors say the belief was a entrance for Khan to obtain a helpful 60 acres (24 hectares) of land in a district exterior Islamabad and one other giant piece of land near Khan’s hilltop mansion within the capital as a bribe from an actual property developer, Malik Riaz Hussain, who’s one in all Pakistan’s richest and strongest businessmen.

Summons Issued By Anti-Graft Company

Hussain, who hasn’t appeared earlier than an anti-graft company to submit his reply to summons issued to him late final yr, has denied any wrongdoing.

The PTI condemned the indictment.

“Trials performed behind jail partitions (are) solely meant to pave the best way for miscarriage of justice,” it mentioned in a press release, terming them politically motivated instances to maintain Khan behind bars.
The PTI celebration has rejected the election outcomes, alleging widespread fraud.

Political Dominance Of Pakistan’s Army

The highly effective navy, which performs an outsized function in making or breaking governments within the nuclear-armed South Asian nation of 241 million folks, fell out with Khan earlier than he was ousted in a parliament vote of confidence in April 2022.

He has alleged that generals backed his ouster to carry his opponents to energy, a cost the military and the opposition deny.

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