Rédaction Africa Links 24 with AFP
Published on 2024-02-03 18:24:51
A Pakistan court has recently made a controversial ruling regarding former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s marriage to his third wife, declaring it illegal under Islamic law and sentencing the pair to seven years each in jail. This comes as the third verdict in a week to tarnish the reputation of the former international cricket star, who was also given concurrent prison sentences of 10 years for leaking state secrets and 14 years for graft alongside his wife Bushra Bibi.
Khan, who was removed from office by a vote of no confidence in April 2022, maintains that nearly 200 charges have been fabricated by the military-led establishment to prevent him from contesting elections on February 8. He believes these charges are politically motivated and aims at tarnishing his image and character.
The latest conviction centers on an Islamic law known as “iddat,” which requires a widowed or divorced woman to wait three months before remarrying to leave no doubt about the paternity of a child in the case of a pregnancy. Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi have been sentenced as per this law by the court, inciting strong reactions from Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party. His lawyer has stated that these charges are baseless and politically motivated and will be challenged in court.
Khan has been imprisoned in Rawalpindi for months, while Bibi surrendered this week and is being held at her home, declared a “sub-jail,” on the outskirts of the capital Islamabad. The charges and convictions made against Khan and Bibi are seen as an attempt to raise moral questions about his character, according to legal experts and analysts.
The former Prime Minister, who rose to power in 2018 with the backing of the military, has had strained relations with the establishment and has been waging a campaign of defiance against them. The PTI has been significantly hampered ahead of the upcoming vote, with numerous party leaders jailed, supporters barred from holding rallies, and the party stripped of its talisman cricket bat symbol.
The complaint regarding the illegal marriage was raised by Khawar Maneka, Bibi’s ex-husband, who claimed that the divorce deed presented by him was fabricated. He alleged that Bibi and Khan had married before the legally required waiting period and had presented false documents. The couple, however, refuted these claims, stating that they had followed all legal procedures and that the divorce deed produced by Maneka was falsified.
Imran Khan, known for his high-profile romantic relationships in the past, including marriages to Jemima Goldsmith and Reham Nayyar, has been under intense scrutiny for his personal life. His third wife, Bushra Bibi, is known for her reserved nature and rarely appears in public, often seen wearing a face-covering hijab.
The controversial rulings and accusations against Imran Khan have fueled further speculation and uncertainty in the political landscape of Pakistan, ahead of the upcoming elections. Despite the legal and political challenges he faces, Khan continues to maintain his innocence and vows to challenge the court’s decisions.
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