Pakistan court extends Imran Khan and wife’s remand by 10 days in Toshakhana case News
Voice of America, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Pakistan court extends Imran Khan and wife’s remand by 10 days in Toshakhana case

A Pakistan accountability court in Rawalpindi, Pakistan extended on Monday former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi’s physical remand by 10 days in a Toshakhana reference case, according to local media.

During the hearing, Khan argued that Bibi should not be punished as she was not associated with the case and did not hold public office when he served as prime minister. Khan said Pakistan’s National Accountability Bureau (NAB), which sought to impose a 14-day extension on Khan and Bibi, acted unscrupulously for financial gains. Bibi also said the NAB continuously filed false cases against them. On the other hand, NAB prosecutor questioned Khan on whether Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman spent 30,000 PKR ($107,54 ) on him.

Previously on July 13, the Supreme Court of Pakistan overturned the conviction of Khan and Bibi’s violation of Pakistan’s marriage laws in 2018. A Pakistani court previously sentenced Khan and Bibi on February 3 to seven years in prison for violating a marriage law when they wed in 2018. The prosecution asserted Khan and his wife violated the ‘Iddah’ period in Islamic law, which says that a woman must wait three months before re-marrying. Khan and Bibi called the charges “baseless” and “politically motivated” in denying that they violated the law. The verdict marked Khan’s fourth conviction in under two years since he was ousted from power in 2022.

In addition, on August 5, 2023, Khan was arrested after a trial court in Islamabad, Pakistan found him guilty in another Toshakhana reference case. Khan was accused of selling state gifts worth over 154 million PKR ($552 037,18) during his term in office. The court sentenced Khan to a prison term of three years and imposed a fine of 100,000 PKR ($358,47) for making false declarations of his assets to the Election Commission of Pakistan. Additionally, Khan was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in January in the “cipher” case, in which Khan accused the US of trying to oust him based on a secret diplomatic cable. Subsequently, he shared details, violating secrecy laws, which led to his conviction.

Khan is allegedly the target of more than 150 legal cases, with charges ranging from inciting violence for the nationwide riots sparked by his arrest in May 2023, to additional allegations of corruption. He and his wife’s next hearing on the current Toshakhana case they face is scheduled for August 8.

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