Khan sentenced to 10 years in jail

EX-PAKISTAN PM BLOCKED FROM STANDING This ‘murder of justice’ alarms rights monitors, but keeps him relevant.

Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan was yesterday sentenced to 10 years in prison, less than two weeks before the country votes in an election his party has been hamstrung from contesting.

The election on Thursday next week is already marred by allegations of pre-vote rigging, with Khan barred from running and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party subject to a massive crackdown.

Khan has languished in prison, buried under an avalanche of court cases he says have been triggered to prevent his return to office after a campaign of defiance against Pakistan’s powerful military kingmakers.

Khan has already been disqualified from standing on the basis of a graft conviction last year.

Yesterday’s sentence for leaking classified state documents was handed down inside Adiala jail, where Khan has been confined for much of the time since his August arrest.

The same sentence was given to Shah Mahmood Qureshi, the former PTI vice-chair, who served as foreign minister during Khan’s four-year premiership until he was ousted in 2022.

The verdicts and sentences were confirmed by party officials.

PTI lawyers called the trial a travesty, saying they were ousted from the proceedings, denying them fair representation.

“This is unconstitutional, this is against the principles of natural justice,” barrister Salman Safdar said.

Local media also reported the convictions and sentences, although state TV did not use Khan’s name, obeying strict censorship measures that have alarmed rights monitors.

“This is a murder of justice,” said Tauseef Ahmed Khan, a human rights activist and political analyst. “But his popularity among the people will grow in leaps and bounds as his sympathisers will increase because of this gross injustice.”

Some 127 million Pakistanis are eligible to vote, with Khan and PTI at the centre of debate despite being squeezed out.

Khan was ousted by a parliamentary no-confidence vote, but accused the powerful military establishment of orchestrating the manoeuvre in a US-backed conspiracy. –