A court in Pakistan sentenced former Prime Minister Imran Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi, one of his Pakistan Tehrik-e Insaf (PTI) party deputies, to 10 years in prison each, after ruling they were guilty of revealing state secrets.
Special court Judge Abul Hasnat Zulqarnain announced the verdict on January 30 at a hearing held inside the Adiala Prison in Rawalpindi after multiple hearings held on the premises.
Khan, who was ousted through a no-confidence vote in parliament in April 2022, is currently serving a three-year prison sentence in a graft case.
Khan has already been barred from taking part in parliamentary elections scheduled for February 8 because of a previous conviction.
The PTI said it would challenge the decision and voiced hope the sentence will be suspended.
"We don't accept this illegal decision," Khan's lawyer Naeem Panjutha posted on social media platform X, formerly Twitter.
The current conviction stems from Khan's waving of a confidential diplomatic document at a public rally following his ouster in 2022.
At the time, Khan claimed that the document, referred to as "Cipher," was proof that his ouster had been orchestrated by Pakistan's powerful military in coordination with the United States, both of which have rejected the accusations.
The document has not been made public, but it is apparently a diplomatic cable communication between Islamabad's embassy in Washington and the Pakistani Foreign Ministry.
Despite his being banned from taking part in the upcoming elections, the 71-year-old former cricket superstar and his PTI party still enjoy huge popularity in Pakistan.
On October 21, three-time former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Khan's longtime rival, returned to Pakistan from four years of self-imposed exile and launched the election campaign of his Pakistan Muslim League party at a huge rally in the eastern city of Lahore.
The Muslim League and Khan's PTI are seen as the main competitors in the upcoming elections.
Pakistan, a nation of 241 million people, is grappling with a severe economic crisis that has seen living standards plunge rapidly.
Former Pakistani PM Khan Sentenced To 10 Years For Revealing State Secrets
Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan (file photo)