Ex-pakistan PM Imran Khan sentenced to 10 years in jail
Khan and ex-fm Shah Mahmood Qureshi were sentenced in Cipher case
A Pakistan court has sentenced former prime minister Imran Khan and former Pakistan’s foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi to jail for 10 years each in a case involving leaking of state secrets, local media reported on Tuesday.
A special court established under the Official Secrets Act sentenced Pakistan Tehreeke-eInsaf (PTI) leader Khan and former Pakistan’s foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi handed out the 10-year jail sentence in the Cipher case, Dawn reported.
The verdict was announced by special court Judge Abul Hasnat Zulqarnain during the hearing held at Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi.
The special court had begun the Cipher trial afresh last month at the Adiala district jail after Khan and Qureshi were indicted for a second time in the case on December 13, Dawn News reported.
The former premier and Qureshi, who is also behind bars, were first indicted in the case in October. Both had pleaded not guilty. The Islamabad High Court (IHC) had termed the government’s notification for a jail trial ‘erroneous’ and scrapped the entire proceedings.
Taking to social media platform X, Khan said: “This is not a trial but a fixed match whose outcome was predetermined by the characters and planners of the London Plan and their seals. That is why I already know the decision of this case.”
He added: “Remember that
Cipher is a case which has been declared null and void twice by the IHC and ordered to be retried because both times the case was tried to be run in violation of the constitution and the law. Then the Supreme Court has also given me bail in this case because the whole building of this case has been built on lies, bullying, conspiracy and deceit.”
The former Pakistan PM also alleged that ‘these people want to provoke you by giving me a harsh sentence in this case so that you go out on the streets and protest, then add your unknowns to it and do another false flag operation in the style of May 9 to get those results’.
“Attempts should be made which could not be achieved by the earlier false flag operation. Second, they want you people to stay at home on February 8, disappointed and angry.”
He urged: “My Pakistanis! This is your war and this is your test that you have to take revenge for every injustice by your vote on February 8 while remaining peaceful.
“Innocent Pakistanis imprisoned in jails for the last 8 months will get justice and release now only with your vote. I believe that just as you broke the chains of fear yesterday, you will come out in millions on election day and defeat the planners of the London plan by the power of your vote and tell them that we There are no sheep that can be driven with a stick. I believe that February 8 will be our day of victory. God willing.”
Earlier this month, Pakistan’s caretaker federal government challenged the IHC decision to declare its notification regarding the jail trial of PTI leader in the Cipher case as null and void.
It reported that the government filed a petition in the apex court to overturn the High Court’s decision saying that the High Court did not evaluate the facts of the case properly.
It contended that the IHC did not have the authority to declare a special court formed to hold Cipher trial of the former premier invalid.
As per Geo News, in November last year, the IHC nullified the notification for conducting Khan’s jail trial in the Cipher case registered on charges of leaking state secrets.
Khan and Qureshi, who is also behind bars, were first indicted in the case in October. Both had pleaded not guilty. IHC had termed the government’s notification for a jail trial ‘erroneous’ and had scrapped the entire proceedings