ISLAMABAD - A Pakistani court on Friday sentenced the country's jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife to 14 years and seven years in prison for their crimes, officials and his lawyer said. Corruption crimes.

This is another blow for the former prime minister, who has been in prison since 2023.

The couple are accused of accepting land gifts from real estate tycoons during Khan's regime in exchange for money laundering.

Prosecutors said Khan then allowed businessman Malik Riaz to use British authorities to return 190 million pounds ($240 million) of laundered funds to Pakistan in 2022 to pay a fine imposed on him in a separate case. fine. to national finance.

Khan has denied wrongdoing and insisted that all the accusations against him since his arrest in 2023 were a conspiracy by rivals to prevent him from returning to office.

After the verdict was announced, Bibi was detained by prison officials, according to officials. She had previously been jailed for another corruption case until she was released on court bail in October. She recently led a rally calling for her husband's release.

Defense lawyer Faisal Chaudhry said the court decision could be challenged in the High Court.

Shortly after the verdict was announced, lawmakers from Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) rallied outside parliament in the capital, Islamabad, saying the former prime minister had been wrongly punished.

Senior party leader Omar Ayub Khan, who is not related to the former prime minister, said: "This is a false case and we will approach the Court of Appeal against this decision."

Imran Khan, who was ousted in a vote of no confidence in parliament in April 2022, had previously been convicted in three separate sentences of corruption, leaking official secrets and violating marriage laws. 10, 14 and 7 years in prison. Under Pakistani law, he will serve the sentences concurrently - the length of the maximum sentence.

Some of Khan's supporters were also present outside the Adiala jail in Rawalpindi city, chanting slogans against the government and demanding the release of their leader.

Information Minister Attaullah Talal told reporters in Islamabad on Thursday that there was "irrefutable evidence" implicating Khan and his wife in a "mega-corruption scandal." Talal said Khan did not even tell members of his cabinet about the money Britain had returned to Pakistan.

Talal also claimed that Khan built a large new house in the eastern city of Lahore after providing benefits to the business tycoon, but he was unable to prove where he got the funds to build the house.

The latest development comes a day after Khan's PTI party held a crucial round of talks with representatives of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's government, demanding the release of all political prisoners, including Khan and other party leaders.

Sharif became prime minister after elections in February 2024, which PTI claimed were rigged.