Ex-Pakistani PM Imran Khan sentenced to ten years in prison — RT World News
Prosecutors said the politician mishandled a secret telegram sent to Islamabad by the country's ambassador to the United States.
A Pakistani court sentenced former Prime Minister Imran Khan to ten years in prison. He has been accused of leaking state secrets, according to a spokesman for the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.
Zulfiqar Bukhari said on Tuesday, according to what was reported by the Associated Press, that the ruling was announced in a prison in the northern city of Rawalpindi, not far from the capital, Islamabad. The same sentence was also issued to former Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi.
The accusations relate to the so-called code, a secret telegram sent by the Pakistani ambassador in Washington to Islamabad in 2022, shortly after the start of the Ukrainian conflict. The document allegedly indicates that the United States wanted to isolate Khan because of his neutrality regarding hostilities.
The former Pakistani Prime Minister called out the encryption issue on Tuesday “bloomer,” Adding that “It is being completed in violation of constitutional requirements and legal regulations.” He added: “This is not an experiment, but rather the result of a fixed match that was determined in advance.” he added.
Echoing those comments, his party PTI pointed this out “There could be no more ridiculous case than that of encryption.” “What could be more ridiculous than Pakistan imprisoning its Prime Minister and Foreign Minister for exposing a foreign conspiracy!”
Khan, a former professional cricketer who became prime minister in 2018, was ousted in 2022 in a vote of no confidence. The opposition accused him of misrule, as well as mismanagement of the economy and foreign policy. He claimed at the time that he had been overthrown as a result of an American conspiracy.
But the controversy surrounding the politician did not end there, as Khan became the target of dozens of cases, sparking massive street protests organized by his supporters, and resulting in dozens of victims.
In August 2023, the politician was sentenced to three years in prison on charges related to what prosecutors said was an attempt to hide the receipt of state gifts while Khan was serving as prime minister. But the country's judiciary later suspended the sentence and granted him bail. Khan remains imprisoned on other charges.
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