A Pakistani court has issued an arrest warrant for Bushra Bibi, the wife of former prime minister Imran Khan, in a corruption case, local media reported.
Mr Khan and Ms Bibi are accused of selling state-owned gifts worth over 140m Pakistani rupees (£386,300) that the jailed leader received during his tenure as prime minister.
Ary News reported on Thursday that judge Shahrukh Arjumand issued a bailable arrest warrant for Ms Bibi. The hearing was held in Adiala Jail, where Ms Bibi was not present. Her request for exemption from personal appearance had been rejected.
The warrant followed the rejection of Mr Khan and Ms Bibi’s petitions for acquittal in the same case on 14 November.
It also came after police charged Mr Khan and Ms Bibi, along with several other people, under anti-terror laws for inciting violence during protests demanding the former prime minister’s release from prison later last month.
Ms Bibi led a march on Islamabad but fled during a police raid that dispersed thousands of demonstrators. The protests resulted in several deaths, including of four security personnel, and the arrest of nearly 1,000 people.
Authorities accused Mr Khan’s supporters of attempting to take over the capital and carrying weapons, while Mr Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party denounced the cases as being politically motivated.
Ms Bibi was granted bail by the Islamabad High Court in the same graft case in October. She had paid surety bonds of £2,773 for her release. Her lawyer had argued that the allegations were baseless given that she was a homemaker and claimed the case was politically motivated.
The Federal Investigation Agency challenged Ms Bibi’s bail before the Supreme Court arguing that it violated court guidelines as it was granted in the Islamabad High Court judge’s chamber.
Ms Bibi and her husband had been arrested in a separate Toshakhana case by the National Accountability Bureau in July, just hours after their acquittal in a previous case under family law related to their marriage. They had been sentenced to seven years in prison earlier this year in connection with that case.
Mr Khan and Ms Bibi face multiple cases and the former prime minister is barred from political activity following his conviction in a corruption case earlier this year.
His supporters and critics of Pakistan’s ruling establishment have said the cases against them are part of a politically motivated crackdown.
