Pakistan ex-PM Imran Khan, top aide get 10-year jail in state secrets case

Islamabad – A Pakistan court has sentenced former Prime Minister Imran Khan and former Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi to 10 years jail in a case related to the leaking of state secrets.

The special court set up in a prison in Rawalpindi on Tuesday announced the sentence in the so-called cipher case, which pertains to a diplomatic cable that Khan claims proves his allegation that his removal from power in 2022 was a conspiracy.

The court established under the Official Secrets Act found Khan guilty of misplacing the confidential cable sent by a former Pakistani ambassador to the United States.

Khan repeatedly denied the charge, saying the document contained evidence that his removal as prime minister was a plot hatched by his political opponents and the powerful military, with help from the US administration. Washington and Islamabad reject the accusation.

Khan was Pakistan’s premier from August 2018 to April 2022 when he lost a vote of confidence in the parliament. He has been in jail since August last year on multiple charges, including the cipher case.

The sentencing against the country’s main opposition leader comes about a week before the general elections scheduled on February 8.