A Pakistan court handed former Prime Minister Imran Khan a ten-year jail term on Tuesday for leaking state secrets, the former premier’s media team said, his second conviction in recent months and just 10 days before the country’s general election.
The case pertains to allegations that Khan had made public the contents of a secret cable sent by the country’s ambassador in Washington to the government in Islamabad.
The court established under the Official Secrets Act found Khan guilty of misusing the confidential cable sent by a former Pakistani ambassador to the United States.
Khan has 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, facing trial in multiple cases.
The sentencing against the country’s main opposition leader comes about a week before the general elections, scheduled on February 8.
