Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan gestures as he speaks to members of the media at his residence in Lahore, Pakistan, May 18, 2023.
Mohsin Raza | Reuters
Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has been sentenced to ten years in prison on charges of leaking state secrets, according to his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) party. confirmed in a post on the social media site X Tuesday.
Khan and his supporters have denounced the charges as politically motivated.
“There can be no more ridiculous case than the Cipher. What can be more ridiculous than Pakistan imprisoning its Prime Minister and Foreign Minister for exposing the foreign conspiracy!!,” PTI, which is Pakistan’s largest political party.
Cipher refers to the name of the case in which both Khan and former Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi were sentenced to ten years behind bars, and centers on secret diplomatic communications between Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States and Islamabad that would have leaked while Khan was prime minister. minister.
The former national cricket captain became prime minister of Pakistan in 2018. Now 71, Khan was removed from office by political opponents in 2022 and subsequently arrested in May 2023 and is serving a three-year prison sentence for corruption. belief.
This is breaking news, check back later for more information.