A court in Pakistan has sentenced former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife to 14 years in prison. His lawyer told the local television station Geo News. The judiciary accuses the opposition politician of having hidden income from the sale of state gifts during his time as prime minister from 2018 to 2022.

Just on Tuesday, the popular 71-year-old former cricket star was sentenced to ten years in prison in another case. A new parliament will be elected in Pakistan on February 8th. The opposition has been massively weakened due to Khan’s imprisonment.

Time and again, prime ministers in the South Asian country with more than 240 million inhabitants are dismissed prematurely – like Khan in April 2022. The powerful military, which has held half of the country’s power since the state was founded in 1947, is considered to be crucial to the fall and rise of politicians in the nuclear-armed state Time itself ruled.