A few days before national elections in Pakistan, a court on Tuesday sentenced Imran Khan to 10 years in prison for disclosing state secrets, his party announced, the most severe sentence handed down against the former prime minister and player jet-setting cricketer, facing several accusations since he was ousted from power in a vote of no confidence in 2022.
The special court found Khan guilty of making public the contents of a secret cable sent by Pakistan's ambassador in Washington to his government, his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party said.
Former Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi was also sentenced to 10 years in prison in the same case.
The court must issue its written verdict later, a practice the PTI deems illegal.
The former Prime Minister's lawyers claim that the conduct of the trial - which was held in prison - did not respect their client's rights.
According to his assistant, Zulfikar Bukhari, the legal team was notably unable to cross-examine the witnesses.
They therefore hope to obtain the annulment of the conviction on appeal.
“This is your war and this is your test”
This is Khan's second conviction in recent months: in August he was sentenced to three years in prison for corruption, a verdict that put him on trial for another run in parliamentary elections.
But from the prison where he is incarcerated, he continued to campaign for the PTI.
While he had previously denied leaking the classified cable mentioned in the case, Khan claimed the document was proof of a conspiracy by the Pakistani military and the US government to overthrow his government in 2022 after his visit to Moscow, just before Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Washington and the Pakistani army deny these accusations.
He had his collaborators publish a message on false flag operation,” the message states.
In May last year, when he was first arrested, Khan's supporters demonstrated their anger in Lahore and Karachi.
They were accused of instigating riots and looting military installations, including the home of a high-ranking general.
Khan denies his supporters were part of the crowd.
سائفر کیس پر عمران خان کا پیغام:
میرے پاکستانیو!
آپ سب نے یقیناً اب تک میرے وکلا سے سن لیا ہوگا کہ کس طرح آئینی تقاضوں اور قانونی ضابطوں کو روندتے ہوئے سائفر سمیت دیگر جھوٹے کیسز کا ٹرائل مکمل کیا جارہا ہے۔
یاد رکھیں کہ سائفر وہ کیس ہے جس کو دو دفعہ اسلام آباد ہایئکورٹ کالعد م…
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) January 30, 2024
Rather than demonstrate, he asks many of them to vote in a few days for the 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 vote while remaining peaceful,” the message adds.
The party of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Khan's main political opponent, who returned in October from a long exile in London to avoid prison, considered that the verdict of 10 years in prison was not severe enough.
With 233 million inhabitants, Pakistan is the fifth most populous country in the world.