It was alleged Imran Khan had shared the contents of a secret cable sent by the country’s ambassador in Washington to the government in Islamabad.
By James Robinson, News reporter @thejournojames
Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for leaking state secrets.
Khan’s former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi was also given a 10-year jail sentence as part of the case.
It was alleged Khan shared the contents of a secret cable sent by the country’s ambassador in Washington to the ministry of foreign affairs in Islamabad by waving it at a rally.
Khan claimed the cable was proof of a conspiracy by the Pakistani military and US government to topple his government
in 2022, after he visited Moscow just before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
He also previously said the contents of the cable appeared in the media from other sources.
Washington and the Pakistan military have denied Khan’s claims.
Khan’s party said they would challenge the decision, by a special court judge at the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, and called it a “sham case”.
“We don’t accept this illegal decision,” Khan’s lawyer Naeem Panjutha posted on social media platform X, following the sentencing.
It comes as the country prepares to hold elections on 8 February – a vote Khan is barred from running in due to a previous conviction.
Khan, a former-cricketer-turned-politician, was ousted as prime minister through a no-confidence vote in April 2022.
The 71-year-old, the founder of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, was then jailed in August 2023 on corruption charges – which he claimed were politically motivated.
The conviction ruled him out of the country’s general elections next week.
While his jail term was suspended as he challenged the corruption conviction, he has remained in prison awaiting a trial on the state secrets case.
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Emily Foster is a globe-trotting journalist based in the UK. Her articles offer readers a global perspective on international events, exploring complex geopolitical issues and providing a nuanced view of the world’s most pressing challenges.
