Bushra Bibi arrested from courtroom in Al-Qadir trust case

ISLAMABAD: Bushra Bibi, wife of former prime minister Imran Khan, has been arrested from the courtroom in the Al-Qadir trust case.

On Friday, the Accountability Court Judge Nasir Javed Rana announced the verdict in the Al-Qadir trust case, also known as the 190 million pound case.

Bushra Bibi was sentenced to seven years imprisonment and a fine of Rs 500,000 in the case. In case she did not pay the fine her sentence would be extended by another three months, the judge ruled.

Also read: Imran Khan gets 14 years, Bushra Bibi 7 years in Al-Qadir trust case

Founder Imran Khan has been sentenced to 14 years in jail and fine of Rs 1 million in the same case.

Bushra Bibi’s daughter and her son-in-law were also present in the courtroom during the hearing.

Imran Khan in his earlier tweet defending his wife had said, “Bushra Bibi is entirely innocent in the Al-Qadir Trust case. The only purpose for including her in the case was to increase pressure on me. Even before this, Bushra Bibi was unjustly jailed for nine months.”

Strict security arrangements have been made inside and outside Adiala Jail. To maintain law and order, female police officers along with plainclothes personnel have also been deployed.

Imran Khan was taken into custody by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on November 13, 2023, in connection with the Al-Qadir Trust case. Both he and his wife, Bushra Bibi, were interrogated for 17 days at Adiala Jail.

Also read: Sealed FIR blames Imran Khan, Bushra Bibi for Rangers personnel deaths

The case proceeded after NAB filed a reference on December 1, 2023. Formal charges against the couple were submitted on February 27, 2024.

Earlier this month, Bushra Bibi had said that her faith in the judiciary had shaken, adding that there was law but no justice.

She made these remarks while talking to Judge Tahir Abbas Supra of the Islamabad Anti-Terrorism Court after the court approved her interim bail in 13 cases related to the November 26 protest.

During the course of the hearing, Judge Tahir Supra while talking to Bushra Bibi had said it took time but all legalities were completed to which Bushra Bibi replied, “Our trust in courts has ended”.

Justice Tahir Abbas Supra had then responded that trust hadn’t been lost everywhere. The justice system, no matter how it is functioning, is essential, and if it ceased to exist, society would eventually collapse.

Bushra Bibi, however, maintained that after what happened to the PTI founder and the party workers, faith in the law had been shaken: “During the trial, I saw judges falling ill and trembling. One judge’s blood pressure reached 200, but he had to deliver the verdict against us, and he did so.”