Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has called for a nationwide protest, a day after he and his wife Bushra Bibi were sentenced to 17-year jail term in the Toshakhana 2 corruption case. In a conversation with his lawyers that was posted on his X (previously Twitter) account, the 73-year-old said his supporters should stand for him in protest against the verdict.
However, it is not clear who posted the statement on X as Khan does not have access to internet in the jail.
"I have sent a message to (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister) Sohail Afridi to prepare for the street movement. The entire nation will have to rise for its rights," he said, adding, "Struggle is worship, and I am even ready to embrace martyrdom for the true freedom of Pakistan!"
The former prime minister said the verdict will be challenged in the high court, while hitting out at the Pakistan Army for 'mentally torturing' him and his wife. Khan claimed that every prisoner in the jail can watch television but he and his wife don't have access to TV at all.
"Like the baseless decisions and sentences of the last three years, the Toshakhana-II decision is also nothing new to me. This decision was given in haste by the judge without any evidence and without fulfilling the legal requirements," Khan said.
"For the struggle to establish the supremacy of law and restore the Constitution, it is essential for the Justice Lawyers Forum and the lawyers' front to come to the forefront. Only the system of justice can protect the people. Without it, neither economic progress nor moral development is possible," he added.
Khan has been in jail since August 2023. On Saturday, he and Bushra were sentenced to 17 years in jail in the Toshakhana 2 corruption case, which revolves around the alleged fraud in state gifts that the couple had received in 2021 from the Saudi Arabian government. The Toshakhana is a department in the Pakistani Cabinet Division that stores gifts given to rulers and government officials by heads of other governments and foreign dignitaries.
In 2024, Bushra was given bail in the same case by the Islamabad High Court. Later, Khan was also given bail, but the couple were indicted in December 2025 in the same case.
