Pakistan: Former Prime Minister Imran Khan sentenced to 10 years in prison

Days before Pakistan’s national elections, a court on Tuesday sentenced Imran Khan to 10 years in prison for leaking state secrets, his party announced. It is the harshest sentence handed down to the former prime minister and cricketer, who faces multiple charges since he was ousted from power in a no-confidence vote in 2022.

A special court has found Khan guilty of leaking the contents of a secret cable sent by Pakistan’s ambassador in Washington to his government, his party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) said. Former Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi was also sentenced to 10 years in prison in the same case. The court has to deliver its written verdict later and PTI considers this practice illegal.

The former prime minister’s lawyers argue that the trial, which took place in prison, did not respect their client’s rights. According to his aide Zulfiqar Bukhari, the legal team was unable to cross-examine the witnesses. Therefore, they hope to have the verdict overturned on appeal.

“This is your war and this is your test”

This is Khan’s second sentence in recent months, having been sentenced to three years in prison for corruption in August. As a result of this verdict, he stood trial for yet another participation in parliamentary elections. But from the jail where he is lodged, he continued to agitate for PTI.

Although he had previously denied leaking the secret cable mentioned in the case, Khan said the document was evidence of a plot by the Pakistani military and the US government to overthrow his government in 2022 following his visit to Moscow shortly before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Washington and the Pakistani army deny the accusations.

He instructed his staff to publicize the false flag operation,” the report said. Last May, when he was first arrested, Khan’s supporters demonstrated their anger in Lahore and Karachi. They were accused of inciting riots and looting military installations, including the home of a senior general. Khan denies his supporters were part of the mob.

Instead of demonstrating, he is asking many of them to vote in a few days for PTI candidates. “They want you to stay home on February 8, disappointed and angry. (…) This is your war and this is your test: you must take revenge for every injustice with your voice, while remaining peaceful,” the message says.

The party of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Khan’s main political opponent who returned from a long exile in London in October to avoid prison, said the 10-year prison sentence was not harsh enough.

Pakistan, with a population of 233 million, is the fifth most populous country in the world.