An Islamabad court on Thursday rejected a plea for suspension of the sentences of former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan and his wife, whose marriage is illegal under Islamic law.
Khan has been embroiled in more than 200 legal cases since he was ousted in April 2022 in a campaign to remove him from power.
The 71-year-old and his wife, Bushra Bibi, were sentenced to seven years in prison in February after it was determined that under Islamic law they had married too soon after Bibi’s divorce.
An AFP reporter at an Islamabad district court said the judge postponed the request for a stay of execution and that the verdict would be delivered on July 12.
Khan, who served as prime minister from 2018 to 2022, has been detained since August last year and is barred from running for public office.
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However, the former international cricketer and his wife had their 14-year prison sentences suspended by the Pakistan High Court in April on corruption charges.
Khan was sentenced to 10 years on treason charges this month but remains in Adiala Prison, south of the capital, Islamabad, on a conviction for illegal marriage.
He had been approved for release prior to the three sentences ahead of Pakistan’s February 8 general elections.
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Rana Sanaullah, an adviser to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, said this week that “the government will try to keep him in custody for as long as possible.”
Analysts say Pakistan’s powerful military, which has ruled the country directly for decades and still wields enormous power, is likely behind the attacks.
Khan was ousted by a vote of no confidence in parliament after clashing with top generals who had once supported him.
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He then launched an unprecedented defiant campaign against them, accusing their leaders of conspiring in an assassination attempt in November 2022 in which he was shot dead during a political rally.
Khan’s brief arrest in May 2023 triggered nationwide unrest that prompted a sweeping crackdown on his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party and its senior leaders.
PTI candidates were forced to run as independents in the February elections, but candidates loyal to the PTI still won more seats than any other party.
But they were kept from power by a broad coalition of parties allegedly loyal to the military.
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