With just over a week left until Pakistan’s upcoming elections, the former Prime Minister, Imran Khan, faces a 10-year prison sentence for leaking state secrets.
Quest Times reports that his party colleague, ex-Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, received a similar punishment.
Both leaders, associated with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), are now barred from elections for the next five years.
Khan, ousted from power in April 2022 after a parliamentary no-confidence vote, is currently serving a three-year prison term for corruption charges.
The latest sentence comes from a special court within Rawalpindi’s Adiala prison, where Khan has been held since August 2023.
The leaked state secrets case revolved around correspondence from Pakistan’s ambassador in Washington, suggesting US cooperation in a plan to remove Khan from power.
Moreover, the indictment alleged that Khan failed to return the cipher, a charge carrying severe consequences, including life imprisonment or the death penalty.
While Khan claimed foreign conspiracy at a rally in March 2022, his legal battles persisted.
Today’s conviction effectively excluded both Khan and Qureshi from the upcoming elections, dealing a blow to PTI, whose candidates are also prohibited from using the party’s cricket bat symbol.
Also, critics argued the trial lacked transparency, with local journalists being the only ones allowed to cover it.
PTI leaders denounced the proceedings as a “sham trial,” vowing to appeal the decision in the Islamabad High Court.
Meanwhile, Rana Sanaullah, a leader from the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N), supported the court’s decision, deeming the punishment justified.
He dismissed Khan’s claims of a foreign conspiracy, asserting that the piece of paper waved by Khan was a classified document.
Observers suggested that Khan lost the trust of the Pakistani military in 2022, impacting the political landscape. With the elections approaching, PTI’s influence faces limitations, both legally and politically.