Imran Khan, a former Prime Minister (PM) of Pakistan was sentenced to 10 years jail term on Tuesday, less than 2 weeks before the country’s election which his political party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has been hamstrung from contesting. His sentence was read inside Adiala jail, where has been detained most of the time since his arrest in August 2023. Khan has faced multiple court cases, which he claims were orchestrated to prevent his political comeback.
The same sentence was also handed down to Shah Mehmood Qureshi, the vice president of PTI, who served as foreign minister under Khan. The case against both men alleged they leaked classified state documents.
Khan was Prime Minister of the country from 2018-2022, when he was ousted in a vote of no-confidence after losing the backing of the nation’s military top brass, who have directly ruled the country for much of the country's history.
He accused the military authorities of ousting him in a US-backed conspiracy and also of plotting an assassination attempt which wounded him.
Khan’s arrest sparked unrest, which resulted in a crackdown on PTI with many of its senior leaders either defecting or going into hiding. The political party has been stripped of its election symbol and its candidates forced to run as individuals.
