Former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi’s conviction and sentencing to seven years of imprisonment in the Iddat case has generated a strong backlash from lawyers and civil society who have denounced the verdict.

Lawyer Basil Nabi Malik told Dawn.com that when a former prime minister’s marriage resulted in not only a seven-year conviction but also a fine, “one should not only be worried about where we are headed but also about the intellectual bankruptcy of our preoccupations.”

Lawyer Abdul Moiz Jaferii referred to the verdict as a “joke”, saying that they “serve only to expose the circus that is our judicial system. They bring to the world the rot that is the rule of law in our country.”

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