Former Pakistan PM Imran Khan sentenced to 10 years in jail in Cipher case

Cipher case: Shah Mahmood Qureshi, former foreign minister, was also sentenced along with Khan

A Pakistani court has sentenced former Prime Minister Imran Khan to 10 years for exposing official secrets. Shah Mahmood Qureshi, former foreign minister, was also sentenced along with Khan, according to Associated Press (AP). 

The development comes just over a week before the country holds general elections on February 8. The case under which Khan and Qureshi have been sentenced is called the Cipher case. It pertains to Khan's speech and the waving of a confidential diplomatic letter at a rally in 2022.

Khan had shown the letter and alleged that there was a US conspiracy behind his ouster from power. The document, called Cipher, has not been made public. Last year, a court indicted him on the charges of revealing official secrets. 

The Federal Investigation Agency invoked in the charge sheet sections 5 and 9 of the Official Secrets Act which may lead to a death sentence, or two to 14 years' imprisonment if convicted.

A court had given bail to Khan and Qureshi in December but Khan remained incarcerated for involvement in other cases. Qureshi, on the other hand, was re-arrested in another case. The court had started hearing the trial afresh in December last year at Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi. Both Khan and Qureshi had pleaded not guilty. 

Earlier this month, Pakistan's caretaker government challenged in the Supreme Court the Islamabad High Court's verdict nullifying the earlier jail trial of Khan. 

Khan was ousted through a vote of no-confidence in April 2022. More than 150 cases have been registered against him since his ouster from power.