Former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, was banned from holding any public office for 10 years, due to the issue of selling state gifts (Reuters)

Dawn newspaper reported on Wednesday that the Anti-Corruption Court issued a 14-year prison sentence against former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi in a case related to the sale of gifts received by the state.

The newspaper reported that last month, the National Accounts Authority (NAB) presented new evidence against Khan and his wife in court on charges of keeping a jewelry collection they received from the Saudi Crown Prince.

According to today's ruling, Imran and Bushra were banned from holding any public office for 10 years, and a fine of 787 million rupees was imposed on each of them.

This is the third ruling against Imran Khan, and comes one day after he and former Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi were sentenced to 10 years in prison in the case of leaking state secrets, a week before the general elections.

Tuesday's case relates to allegations that Khan shared the contents of a secret telegram sent by the country's ambassador to Washington to the government in Islamabad, in front of a crowd on March 27, 2022. Khan had indicated that it was evidence that his removal from office was the result of an American conspiracy backed by Pakistani army.

For its part, the PTI, the party headed by Khan, said it would appeal the ruling issued by the court. Khan's lawyer also confirmed that the ruling against his client was illegal and that he would appeal it.

In the same context, another court sentenced the former cricket star to 3 years in prison last August for selling gifts worth more than 140 million rupees (about 500 thousand dollars) that he had received during his term as prime minister between 2018 and 2022.

But a Pakistani court overturned the ruling, and despite this, Khan continued to be detained in prison pending another case related to suspicion of publishing official documents and selling state gifts. Government officials claimed that Khan's aides sold the gifts in Dubai.

Imran Khan was seeking to run for elections, after his release during the past months, but the judiciary rejected his nomination and most of his supporters for the legislative elections scheduled for February.

Source: Al Jazeera + Reuters