The 2024 race has seen more twists than a Hollywood blockbuster
world2 days ago
A district and sessions court in Islamabad on Thursday declined the pleas of former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi to suspend their seven-year sentences in the Iddat case, Dawn reported.
The verdict, which had been reserved on Tuesday, was announced by Additional District and sessions judge (ADSJ) Afzal Majoka on Thursday.
Lawyers, women activists, and members of civil society condemned the Iddat conviction, calling it a "blow to women's right to dignity and privacy".
The ruling had been met with protests in Islamabad and criticism in Karachi.
Prior to the general elections, on February 3, an Islamabad court sentenced the couple to seven years in prison and fined them each 500,000 Pakistani rupees for getting married during Bushra Bibi's Iddat period — a specified period of time that must elapse before a Muslim widow or divorcee may remarry.
The couple was also given 14 years in prison in the Toshakhana case, while Khan and his foreign minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, were given 10 years in prison in the cipher case, the same week the verdict was rendered.
Khan and Qureshi were found not guilty in the cipher case earlier this month, and the penalties in the Toshakhana case were suspended in April.
ALSO READ:
The 2024 race has seen more twists than a Hollywood blockbuster
world2 days ago
Time is running out, Antonio Guterres told the 15-member Security Council
world2 days ago
Ukraine now spends roughly half of its state budget — or about $40 billion — on defence
world3 days ago
The advance of Moscow's forces, which control just under a fifth of Ukraine, has underlined Russia's vast superiority in men and materiel
world3 days ago
Teams of enumerators accompanied by soldiers and armed police went door to door in Yangon to fill in the 68-question survey
world3 days ago
The debate is likely the final one of the 2024 presidential campaign, potentially giving it some extra weight ahead of the November 5 election
world3 days ago
Taal is one of the world's smallest active volcanoes and some of its previous eruptions have impacted the capital and air travel
world3 days ago
The 207 to 121 vote was largely a repeat of the Conservatives' failed attempt last week to trigger snap elections
world3 days ago