ISLAMABAD (AP) — On Tuesday, a Pakistani court handed down a 10-year prison sentence to former Prime Minister Imran Khan and one of his party deputies for revealing official secrets. The quick response to the verdict from Khan’s followers and the decision marked another setback for the former cricket star turned politician who was ousted in April 2022 and is currently serving a three-year prison sentence in a graft case. The special court based at the prison in Rawalpindi, where Khan is detained, delivered the verdict, according to Zulfiqar Bukhari, the chief spokesman for Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party (PTI). The party stated that Khan and his deputy, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who was also sentenced to 10 years, have the right to appeal the decision, known as the Cipher case.
Khan’s legal team plans to challenge the conviction before the Islamabad High Court on Wednesday. The ruling comes ahead of the parliamentary elections on Feb. 8, which Khan is prohibited from participating in due to his prior criminal conviction. Despite not being on the ballot, Khan remains a significant political force due to his grassroots following and anti-establishment rhetoric. He alleges that the legal cases against him were designed to sideline him before the elections. There have been violent demonstrations in Pakistan following Khan’s May 2023 arrest, and authorities have cracked down on his supporters and party. The country’s human rights commission has expressed doubts about the fairness of the upcoming parliamentary election due to alleged “pre-poll rigging” and the rejection of Khan and senior party figures’ candidacies.
The Cipher case is one of over 150 cases against Khan, covering charges such as contempt of court, terrorism, and inciting violence. In the Cipher case, Khan is accused of displaying a confidential document, a classified cable, at a rally after he was removed from office. The document, which has not been made public by the government or Khan’s lawyers, reportedly contained diplomatic correspondence between the Pakistani ambassador to Washington and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad. During the rally, Khan asserted that the document proved he was under threat and that his overthrow was a U.S. conspiracy carried out by the military and the Pakistani government. Both Washington and Pakistani officials have rejected this claim. Khan’s party has issued a statement expressing support for Khan and Qureshi, describing the trial as a “sham” and claiming that their lawyers were not allowed to defend them properly. Nonetheless, the party urged supporters to remain peaceful and avoid violence, pending the outcome of the legal appeal.
“We should use these energies for the polling day” on Feb. 8 to ensure that Khan’s candidates win with a “thumping majority,” said Omar Ayub, a long-time supporter of Khan. “PTI will continue its struggle to put Pakistan on a democratic path so that the supremacy of law and the constitution is ensured.” During the trial, the PTI feared that Khan could face a death sentence for treason. Khan has consistently proclaimed his innocence, stating that he did not disclose the exact contents of the cable. Qureshi, on the other hand, was accused of manipulating the diplomatic cable’s contents for political gain. Political analyst Muhammad Ali expected the recent verdict against both Khan and his deputy, stating that they “indeed damaged Pakistan’s diplomatic ties with the United States and embarrassed the then-Pakistani Ambassador Asad Majeed to the United States.”
