Wife of former Pakistani Premier Imran Khan freed from jail on bail

By Islamuddin Sajid

ISLAMABAD (AA) – Pakistani authorities on Thursday released Bushra Bibi, the wife of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan, from jail, a day after a court in Islamabad granted her bail in a case involving the purchase and illegal sale of state gifts.

"Bushra Bibi has been released from Adiala Jail" in Rawalpindi, Sardar Muhammad Masroof Khan, former assistant attorney general and lawyer for Khan's party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, told the media in Islamabad.

On Wednesday, Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb of the Islamabad High Court granted the former first lady post-arrest bail and ordered her release.

She is facing two "Toshakhana cases," which involve the purchase and illegal sale of state gifts.

The former first lady was arrested in late January after an Islamabad accountability court sentenced Imran Khan and his wife to 14 years in prison in a case involving the purchase and illegal sale of state gifts received by the couple from foreign countries during Khan's nearly four-year tenure as prime minister.

In addition, the two were sentenced to seven years in prison for violating the Islamic code during their marriage in 2018.

In April, the IHC suspended their sentences in the foreign gifts case but they remain in custody in several other cases.

In July, a local court also suspended sentences and acquitted Khan and his wife of violating Islamic marriage law.

Khan, 72, however, is currently jailed in Rawalpindi and seeking bail on multiple cases ranging from corruption to terrorism, all of which he denies. Courts have already set aside two of his convictions and suspended the third one.

The former cricket star was ousted from power through a no-confidence vote in April 2022.