Former Prime Minister Imran Khan of Pakistan was sentenced to 10 years in jail on Tuesday, the most recent twist in what’s broadly seen as a marketing campaign by the army to sideline one among its main critics from politics.
The sentence, which was delivered in a case wherein Mr. Khan is accused of leaking state secrets and techniques, got here a few week earlier than Pakistan is about to move to the polls for the primary nationwide election since he was ousted in a vote of no confidence in April 2022.
Analysts have known as the election among the many least credible in Pakistan’s 76-year historical past due to the army’s widespread crackdown on Mr. Khan and his supporters.
His ouster set off a political showdown between Mr. Khan and the nation’s highly effective army, which has lengthy been the invisible hand guiding the nation’s politics. Mr. Khan and his supporters have accused army leaders of orchestrating his elimination — an accusation they deny.
The nation has been embroiled within the political disaster spawned by Mr. Khan’s ouster for a yr and a half. As Mr. Khan and his supporters have railed in opposition to the nation’s generals, public anger on the army has swelled. In Might, tons of of protesters attacked army installations in scenes that have been as soon as unimaginable in Pakistan.
In response, the army launched a widespread intimidation marketing campaign geared toward weakening Mr. Khan’s political get together, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or P.T.I., and curbing the outstanding political comeback he has made at the same time as he has been jailed and barred from contesting the nationwide election subsequent week.
The decision on Tuesday was handed down by a particular courtroom that was established earlier this yr and that analysts say is extra deferential to the army’s needs. Mr. Khan has known as the trial a “fastened match,” suggesting its final result was predetermined, and his get together mentioned it could attraction the decision.
“This 10-year sentence gained’t stand for 10 days earlier than the appellate courts. Such brazen disregard of legislation and structure has by no means been witnessed earlier than,” Taimur Malik, one of many attorneys for Mr. Khan, mentioned in a put up on X, previously generally known as Twitter.
Shah Mahmood Qureshi, a former overseas minister and shut aide to Mr. Khan, was additionally handed a 10-year sentence on Tuesday in the identical case.
Salman Masood contributed reporting from Islamabad.
