By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, have appealed against their conviction in the £190 million Al-Qadir Trust case, arguing that the trial court’s verdict was a result of “political victimisation” and accusing the prosecution of failing to provide evidence.
“The conviction of Khan and his spouse was a result of political victimisation ‘orchestrated by opponents using NAB as a tool,” the petition read.
Khan, the founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), and his wife were convicted by an accountability court earlier this month, with Khan receiving a 14-year sentence and Bibi a seven-year sentence, along with heavy fines.
The court found Khan and his wife guilty of accepting a bribe in the form of land from a real-estate tycoon Malik Riaz in exchange for using £190 million in repatriated government funds from the United Kingdom to pay tycoon’s court fines.
Faith healer Bibi, who was recently released on bail, was arrested at the court premises after the conviction.
The Al-Qadir Trust case, described by authorities as the largest corruption case in the country’s history, centers on allegations that Khan, while in office, and his wife received a parcel of land as a bribe from Riaz.
The anti-graft watchdog alleged that Khan, as prime minister from August 2018 to April 2022, made a quid pro quo deal with Riaz, enabling him to receive more than $239 million government money. The NAB said Khan’s government gave legal cover to Riaz’s deal.
The appeal, filed with the Islamabad High Court, challenges the verdict and argues that the trial court “misread the evidence and failed to consider critical facts”, rendering the conviction “unsafe”.
“Despite this, NAB exceeded its jurisdiction by filing the false and frivolous NAB Reference No 19 of 2023, fully aware that the case did not fall within the ambit of the NAO, 1999,” the petition read.
The petition also highlighted that the trial court overlooked the prosecution’s “most critical failure” — its inability to produce any witnesses either from the United Kingdom (UK) or Pakistan to substantiate the alleged proceedings at the NCA.
“Its [NAB’s] failure to produce witnesses from the National Crime Agency (NCA) or submit relevant documents has dealt a fatal blow to its case,” the petition read.
The plea contended that the trial court misread the evidence and failed to consider critical facts, rendering the conviction unsafe.
Khan has been facing dozens of cases, ranging from charges of graft and misuse of power to inciting violence against the state, after being removed from office in a parliamentary vote of confidence in April 2022.
He has either been acquitted or had his sentences suspended in most cases, except for this one and another on charges of inciting supporters to rampage through military facilities to protest against his arrest on May 9, 2023.
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