Pakistani court sentences former prime minister Imran Khan to 10 years for revealing state secrets
CTV
A Pakistani court on Tuesday sentenced former prime minister Imran Khan and one of his party deputies to 10 years in prison each, after finding them guilty of revealing official secrets. The verdict drew swift criticism from Khan's followers.
A Pakistani court on Tuesday sentenced former prime minister Imran Khan and one of his party deputies to 10 years in prison each, after finding them guilty of revealing official secrets. The verdict drew swift criticism from Khan's followers.
It was also another blow to Khan, a former cricket star turned Islamist politician who was ousted through a no-confidence vote in Parliament in April 2022 and is currently serving a three-year prison sentence in a graft case.
According to Zulfiqar Bukhari, chief spokesman for Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, or PTI, the verdict was announced by a special court set up at the prison in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, where Khan is held. Authorities said Khan and his deputy Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who also received a 10-year sentence, have the right to appeal Tuesday's ruling in the case popularly known as the Cipher.
Khan's legal team is expected to appeal the conviction at the Islamabad High Court on Wednesday.
The ruling comes ahead of the Feb. 8 parliamentary elections in Pakistan -- a vote Khan is barred from running in because of his previous criminal conviction.
Although he is not on the ballot, Khan remains a potent political force because of his grassroots following and anti-establishment rhetoric. He says the legal cases against him were a plot to sideline him ahead of the vote.
Pakistan has seen violent demonstrations after Khan's May 2023 arrest and authorities have cracked down on his supporters and party since then.
