Imran Khan sentenced to ten years in prison for revealing state secrets at Pakistani court
Imran Khan and one of his party deputies was sentenced to 10 years in prison each for revealing official secrets, by a judge at a Pakistani court on Tuesday.
The verdict was another blow to Khan, a former cricket star turned Islamist politician, who was ousted as Pakistan's prime minister through a no-confidence vote in Parliament in April 2022.
He is currently serving a three-year prison sentence in a graft case.
In the secrets case, Khan is alleged to have waved a confidential document - a classified cable - at a rally after he was toppled.
During the speech, Khan claimed the document was proof he was being threatened and that his ouster was a US conspiracy, allegedly executed by the military and the government in Pakistan. Washington and Pakistani officials have denied the claim.
The document - dubbed Cipher - has not been made public by either the government or Khan’s lawyers but was believed to be diplomatic correspondence between the Pakistani ambassador to Washington and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad.
Khan has maintained his innocence and says he didn’t disclose the exact contents of the cable. Qureshi was accused of manipulating the contents of a diplomatic cable to gain political advantage.
He has previously claimed the Pakistan government is trying to kill him, in an interview with ITV News' Global Security Editor Rohit Kachroo.
"I have had one assassination attempt... I am just lucky to be alive", he added. "They want me out of the way... If they can't kill me, they'll put me in prison."
ITV News Global Security Editor Rohit Kachroo spoke to Imran Khan who is facing a spate of legal challenges
The Cipher case is one of more than 150 cases pending against Khan. Other charges range from contempt of court to terrorism and inciting violence.
Authorities said Khan and his deputy who also received a 10-year sentence, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, have the right to appeal Tuesday’s ruling in the case.
According to Zulfiqar Bukhari, spokesman for Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, the court announced the verdict at a prison in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.
Tuesday's verdict comes weeks after Khan and Qureshi were indicted in the case.
During the trial, Khan’s party and supporters had feared he could be sentenced to death for treason.
Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has told ITV News that the government of his successor is trying to kill him.
The ruling comes ahead of the February 8 parliamentary elections in Pakistan - a vote that Khan is barred from running in because of his previous criminal conviction.
Although Khan will not be on the ballot for the February election, he 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 since after Khan’s May 2023 arrest.
Authorities have cracked down on his supporters and party since then.
Pakistan’s independent human rights commission has said there is little chance of a free and fair parliamentary election next month because of “pre-poll rigging.”
It also expressed concern about authorities rejecting the candidacies of Khan and senior figures from his party.
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