Wife of former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan banned from criticizing state institutions and officials

Islamabad: According to The Express Tribune, an accountability court in Islamabad has prohibited former prime minister Imran Khan and his spouse, Bushra Bibi, from making public remarks critical of public officials and state organizations.

During the hearing of a plea for a fair trial, Judge Basir Javed Rana prohibited the PTI founder and his spouse from criticizing state institutions in the courtroom.

The media was also instructed by the court to refrain from running such politically charged articles that disparage governmental institutions and their representatives.

The PTI head allegedly made aggressive political remarks against high ranking officers of state institutions, such as the army chief, the judiciary, and the army, according to the order, as reported by The Express Tribune.

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

The court also directed the prosecution, the defendants, and their defense attorneys not to make any politically charged or incendiary remarks that may jeopardize the court’s decorum.

Khan, the prime minister from 2018 to 2022, is still serving a 14-year jail term for the unlawful selling of goods from the state, along with a lengthy prison sentence for his spouse.

Khan was initially imprisoned after the Election Commission sentenced him to three years in jail in August 2023 for failing to disclose assets obtained from selling gifts acquired during his reign that totaled more than PKR 140 million rupees (USD 501,000) while they were in state custody.

Following an independent probe into the same allegations involving state gifts by the nation’s highest anti-graft commission, Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi were sentenced to 14 years in prison in January.