Pakistani Court Restricts Imran Khan And Wife From Criticizing State Institutions, Officials

According to The Express Tribune, an accountability court in Islamabad has prohibited former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, from making statements against state institutions and officials. During a hearing of a petition for a fair trial, Judge Basir Javed Rana directed the PTI founder and his spouse to refrain from criticizing state institutions while in the courtroom.

The court also instructed the media to avoid publishing any politically provocative statements targeting state institutions and their officials. As per the court’s order, Imran Khan, the PTI chief, had previously made such provocative statements against senior officials of state institutions, including the army, judiciary, and army chief.

“Such statements disrupt judicial decorum and also obstruct judicial functions such as the dispensation of justice,” the order added.

The court’s order also directed the prosecution, the accused, and their defense counsels to refrain from making political or inflammatory statements that could disrupt the court’s decorum.

Khan, who served as Prime Minister from 2018 to 2022, remains incarcerated in several cases, including one where he and his wife received a 14-year jail sentence for the illegal sale of state gifts.

Khan was initially imprisoned after being sentenced to three years in prison by the Election Commission in August 2023 for failing to declare assets obtained from selling gifts valued at more than PKR 140 million rupees (USD 501,000) while in possession of the state and received during his tenure as Prime Minister.

In January, Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, were each sentenced to 14 years in jail following a separate investigation by the country’s top anti-graft body into the same charges related to the illegal sale of state gifts.

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