Rabat – Pakistan’s former prime minister, Imran Khan, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison in a case connected to the disclosure of state secrets.
The case relates to Imran Khan’s appearance at a rally in March 2022, in which he waved a piece of paper that he said showed a foreign conspiracy against him.
The former PM claimed that the paper says that “all will be forgiven if Imran Khan is removed from power.”
While Khan did not name the country, converging reports said he was referencing the US.
In response, prosecution said that the act amounted to leaking a classified document and damaging diplomatic ties.
Following the sentencing, Khan’s lawyer Naeem Panjutha posted on X, formerly Twitter, stating: ‘We don’t accept this illegal decision.’
This case has become popularly known as the Cipher case and is merely one of more than 150 charges against him.
The 71-year-old former cricketer rose to prominence for founding the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party and later being elected as PM in July 2018.
However, in April 2022, he became the first PM in Pakistan’s history to be ousted in a no-confidence motion. In May 2023, he was arrested on charges of corruption and was subsequently imprisoned in August 2023.
Despite these accusations, his reputation has not been tarnished for his followers in Pakistan, who broke out in violent demonstrations in support of him.
The special court also sentenced former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi to 10 years in prison, for his involvement in the Cipher case alongside Khan.
Authorities claim that both Khan and Qureshi have the right to appeal against the ruling.
Khan has claimed that the charges against him are politically motivated as the news comes in wake of the general elections which are due to take place on 8 February. However, Khan is prohibited from standing in the upcoming elections.
Concerns of an unjust parliamentary election have been raised by Pakistan’s independent human rights commission, in light of the defamation of the PTI party.
Khan’s sentence, however, has not ended his political career but has rather fuelled his persistence, as he remains campaigning within his prison cell, through using an artificial intelligence voice clone.
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