![\"Sky](\"http:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/sky-news-logo-1.png\"){kind=logo}
<\/a> news.sky.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for leaking state secrets.<\/p>\n
Khan’s former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi was also given a 10-year jail sentence as part of the case.<\/p>\n
It was alleged that Khan shared the contents of a secret cable sent by the country’s ambassador in Washington to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad.<\/p>\n
Khan claimed the cable was proof of a conspiracy by the Pakistani military and US government to topple his government
\nin 2022, after he visited Moscow just before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n
He also previously said the contents of the cable appeared in the media from other sources.<\/p>\n
Washington and the Pakistan military have denied Khan’s claims.<\/p>\n
Khan’s party said they would challenge the decision, by a special court judge at the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, and called it a “sham case”.<\/p>\n
“We don’t accept this illegal decision,” Khan’s lawyer Naeem Panjutha posted on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, following the sentencing.<\/p>\n
It comes as the country prepares to hold elections on 8 February – a vote Khan is barred from running in due to a previous conviction.<\/p>\n
Khan, a former-cricketer-turned-politician, was ousted as prime minister through a no-confidence vote in April 2022.<\/p>\n
The 71-year-old, the founder of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, was then jailed in August 2023 on corruption charges – which he claimed were politically motivated.<\/p>\n
While his jail term was suspended as he challenged the corruption conviction, it ruled him out of the country’s general elections next week.<\/p>\n
Pakistan has seen violent demonstrations since Khan’s arrest last year. Authorities have cracked down on his supporters and party since then.<\/p>\n
Source: \u00a0<\/a> news.sky.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"