UPDATE - Pakistani ex-Premier Khan gets 7 years in prison in 3rd case this week

UPDATE - ADDED MORE DETAILS, NO CHANGE IN DECK, HL

By Islamuddin Sajid

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AA) — A Pakistani court on Saturday sentenced former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, to seven years each in prison over charges of unlawful marriage.

Judge Qudrat Ullah announced the verdict in the northeastern garrison city of Rawalpindi's Adiala Jail.

The judge also imposed a fine of 1 million Pakistani rupees ($3,575) on Khan and his wife.

Khan's party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders rejected the court verdict and called it an attempt of "character assassination."

"We did not expect this injustice from judges; they have disappointed us by giving sentences to Imran Khan under pressure while violating the law and constitution," Barrister Gohar Khan, PTI chief, told reporters outside the jail.

Khan said it was a "shameless and scandalous" case and added the judge "deprived" Khan's lawyers of the "legal right of cross-examining the witness or presenting their witnesses."

Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi were indicted on Jan. 16; the trial was completed in 16 days. Khan's legal team said they will challenge the verdict in higher courts.

Bibi's former husband, Khawar Farid Maneka, recently filed a case against the two after almost six years and accused them of marrying without completing the iddat — a compulsory waiting period after divorce — and committing adultery, which is outlawed in Pakistan.

Khan, who is currently incarcerated in Adiala jail, was arrested in August with multiple cases against him.

This is his fourth sentence announced and the third this week ahead of a general election in South Asia, which is scheduled for Feb.8.

The former cricket star and Bibi were each handed 14-year jail terms on Wednesday in a case related to the illegal sale of state gifts. The ruling came a day after Khan received a 10-year sentence for leaking state secrets.

On Friday, Khan, in a statement from jail, said the cases against him have no legal basis, terming them an attempt to "demoralize" his supporters and stop them from voting in the general election next week.

Khan faces over 100 charges, including corruption and terrorism, since being removed from power in 2022. He says the cases against him are politically motivated and meant to sideline him ahead of the ballot.