Pakistan’s former Prime Minister and leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf party, Imran Khan is finally sentenced to 14 years in jail in a corruption case. The decision had been delayed for a few days making many wonder if this was due to the ongoing negotiations between the country’s powerful army and the PTI leadership, and if Khan was about to get a relief. The final sentencing, in which the PTI leader’s wife Bushra Bibi also got seven years in jail, has certainly disappointed many supporters who remain unmoved by the judgment.
Khan’s followers remain unconvinced that the decision was made in good faith. However, the sentencing does not necessarily mean the end of dialogue between the army and Khan. In fact, from the establishment’s perspective, the judgment is meant to create space both externally and internally. It will use the sentence to argue with the rest of the world—particularly with concerns that the incoming US President Donald Trump may pressure Islamabad over Khan—by pointing to the judicial process. Similarly, the military leadership could use this case to push Khan into agreeing to their demands—if he wants to avoid prison, he must comply. Simply put, the army wants the PTI leader to move to his residence in Bani Gala, Islamabad, and wait patiently until the next elections are announced, which is possibly a couple of years away.
Land, money and NCA
This particular case is important because, according to my sources in the National Accountability Bureau, Pakistan’s prime anti-corruption agency, it is the only one with evidence of Khan’s involvement in financial mismanagement. The case pertains to the real estate tycoon Malik Riaz, who is currently in self-exile in Dubai, transferring a valuable piece of land to the Al-Qadir Trust. Khan, his wife and her confidante, Farhat Shahzadi, popularly known as Farah Gogi were trustees of the trust.
Riaz, known for bribing political parties and senior members of the military establishment, reportedly gave the land to Khan and his wife to open a university of spiritual education. This gift coincided with Khan’s government allowing the transfer of £190 million, previously frozen in Riaz’s British accounts by the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA), to an account in Pakistan. This was done so the real estate tycoon could pay off a debt owed to the Pakistan Supreme Court as part of a settlement in another case where he was accused of illegally appropriating public land in Sindh.
For a long time, the rumour was that the NCA had allowed the transfer from a private account to the Supreme Court’s account under a secret agreement with Shahzad Akbar, Khan’s accountability Tsar, of which the government has no record. The British government has never spoken about the case or a secret agreement. Akbar, whom I spoke with in London, denies any deal between the government and Riaz, or that the £190 million was seized by the NCA as laundered money.
Akbar claims that the NCA, which was requested to freeze Nawaz Sharif’s and his sons’ accounts and investigate transactions, especially the sale of a £45 million property near Hyde Park, London, by one of Sharif’s sons to Riaz—had initially blocked a suspicious transaction from UAE into an account held in Riaz’s son, Ali Riaz’s name. Interestingly, Akbar, who was reportedly deputed by military intelligence to undertake accountability of the former rulers, was unable to prove any wrongdoing in the initial purchase of the property by the Sharifs.
Meanwhile, the NCA froze other accounts held by Riaz and his family. However, as Akbar further claimed, since it would take the Pakistan government a lot of time to help the NCA prove that Riaz had illegally laundered money from the country, the NCA allowed Riaz to transfer the money back to Pakistan using his personal account. Prima facie, Akbar can argue that a money laundering case against Riaz was never proved by the NCA and that money was transferred back legitimately for Riaz to settle his court dues.
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Tougher days for government
Despite the fact that all suspects in the case—Malik Riaz, Shahzad Akbar, and Zulfiqar Bukhari, a senior member of PTI—are proclaimed offenders and never appeared before the court to give a statement, the case and how it was settled by the Khan government remain suspicious. Riaz, Bukhari and Akbar remain outside the country and refuse to return to Pakistan to give a statement, which in itself is a lacuna in the case that is likely to come under discussion during the appeal.
The Al-Qadir Trust case is about a prime minister not being mindful of a conflict of interest and too confident of his clean reputation without considering that the law of the land does not allow any gift to a public office holder, even if it’s a charity. And especially if it is accompanied by a return benefit. On the other hand, Khan’s self-confidence is not misplaced as his support base is unwilling to believe in his complicity in any corruption case. Despite the sentence, his supporters and millions of other Pakistanis have ears for Khan accusing the government of being “authoritarian”, as he came out of the court at the end of the sentencing.
Clearly, the negotiations between the army and the PTI leader have not progressed. Media sources I spoke with claim that Khan cannot accept the option of sitting quietly at home as it would be a death knell to his brand of politics – the claim that he will not surrender to a corrupt and oppressive regime. If anything, the sentence means tougher days for the establishment, which is unable to meet its tough security challenges because of bad politics at home. One wonders if the army can afford to keep Khan incarcerated for 14 years.
Ayesha Siddiqa is Senior Fellow at the Department of War Studies at King’s College, London. She is the author of Military Inc. She tweets @iamthedrifter. Views are personal.
(Edited by Ratan Priya)