Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Pakistan’s ex-PM Imran Khan and wife convicted of marriage law violation

Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi were convicted of a charge that their 2018 marriage violated the law (KM Chaudary/AP)
Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi were convicted of a charge that their 2018 marriage violated the law (KM Chaudary/AP)

A court in Pakistan has convicted and sentenced former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife to seven years in prison on a charge that their 2018 marriage violated the law, officials and a defence lawyer said.

The verdict follows another case in which Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, were sentenced to 14 years in prison on Wednesday for corruption.

It comes ahead of parliamentary elections on February 8 in which Khan has already been disqualified because of his convictions.

Imran Khan
Former prime minister Imran Khan (KM Chaudary/AP)

The lawyer for the couple, Intisar Panjutha, said the verdict was announced by Judge Qudrat Ullah a day after the trial ended.

Khan and his family insist the trial is politically motivated.

The prosecution said Khan and his wife violated the law that a woman must wait three months before marrying again. Bibi had been married previously.

It was Khan’s fourth conviction since 2022, when he was ousted from power. The sentences will be served concurrently.

The ruling was condemned by Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party. Its head, Gohar Khan, told reporters that Khan will appeal. “This is a bogus case against Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi, but still they were given the maximum prison sentence by the court,” he said.

Imran Khan
The former prime minister is serving multiple prison sentences (AP)

Bibi, Khan’s third wife, was a spiritual healer who was previously married to a man who had claimed that they divorced in November 2017, less than three months before she married Khan. Bibi has said their divorce took place in August 2017.

Khan was previously married to Jemima Goldsmith and journalist Reham Khan, and both Khan and Bibi during the trial repeatedly denied that they violated the three-month waiting period. It is a requirement of the Islamic law that is upheld in Pakistan.

The former leader is currently serving multiple prison terms at Adiala prison in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, where his trials were held because of security concerns.

Khan has also been embroiled in more than 150 cases, which include inciting people to violence after his arrest in May 2023.

During nationwide riots in May, Khan’s supporters attacked the military headquarters in Rawalpindi, stormed an air base in Mianwali in the eastern Punjab province and torched a building housing state-run Radio Pakistan in the north-west.

The violence subsided only when Khan was released at the time by the supreme court.

Khan and Bibi also face another corruption case allegedly involving giving undue benefits to a property tycoon in return for establishing an Islamic university.