Sentence of 10 years imprisonment against Imran Khan

Pakistan's Secret Documents Court has sentenced the country's former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his close aide, former foreign affairs minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, to 10 years in prison in a case related to leaking government secrets.

Feb 3, 2024 - 06:20
Sentence of 10 years imprisonment against Imran Khan
Sentence of 10 years imprisonment against Imran Khan

 A special court created in the prison of Rawalpindi, on Tuesday announced the verdict in the case named 'cypher', related to the diplomatic cable that Khan claims confirms his claim that his removal from power in 2022 was due to a conspiracy involving the United States government . A court established under the Official Secrets Act found Khan guilty of misusing the secret cable sent by Pakistan's former ambassador to the United States . Pakistani circles reported in relation to the news that, after several months of judicial investigation of the case file of the disclosure of secret documents, the body has finally found guilty two senior officials of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party who are also officials of the former government of Pakistan and thus sentenced them to 10 years in prison . Senator Ali Zafar, a senior official of the Tehreek-e-Insaf party and the head of Imran Khan's legal team, considered the court's decision to be one-sided and announced that he will challenge the decision in the Supreme Court as soon as possible . Imran Khan's Tehreek-e-Insaf Party In this period approaching the elections in April this year, some political circles in Pakistan may evaluate the decision as having political ambitions, because the performance seems different from what happened in the cases that were facing the former Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif . Abbas Fayaz, a political expert says: "The judicial system in Pakistan is considered independent. However, the Tehreek-e-Insaf party has announced that it opposes the sentence given against its senior officials. Khan participating in the next election is more painful for the Tehreek-e-Insaf party . Before that, the leaders of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf strongly opposed the process of Imran Khan's case and insisted that no materials were given to the Prime Minister and the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the country to have a private lawyer and defend himself. in court . Tehreek-e-Insaf, which was a provincial party in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, suddenly and quickly turned into a national party with the support of the military and the judiciary, which led to the ouster of Muhammad Nawaz Sharif by stripping him of the prime ministership. However, Imran Khan's opposition to the United States, especially in the war in Ukraine, led him to be removed from power by the vote of the Parliament, and now with its closure, it is possible to say that Tehreek-e-Insaf can be completely abolished in the political arena of Pakistan . Muhammad Nawaz Sharif This is due to the fact that, in the political community of Pakistan, it was seen that the existence of Tehreek-e-Insaf in the political field of the country means breaking the atmosphere of the two camps of Muslim League-Nawaz and Pakistan Peoples Muslim League. Therefore, with the imprisonment of Imran Khan and the weakening of Tehreek-e-Insaf's position in the next election, it can be said that the field has been prepared for the election to be in two camps and to intensify the competition between Muslim League-Nawaz and Pakistan Peoples Muslim. League. Despite this, it seems that the field and the environment have been prepared for the victory of the Muslim League party of Nawaz Sharif in the next election, so that Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, by resuming the position of Prime Minister, will try to solve the regional and international challenges facing Pakistan . It is for that reason, that is why the Tehreek-e-Insaf party has always expressed great concern about the discriminatory practices against the members of this party and prevent them from participating in the upcoming elections in Pakistan . Shah Mahmood Qureshi, former foreign minister of Pakistan Considering that Imran Khan is in prison linked to several cases of financial, political and security corruption, the possibility that he will be tried by the court in those cases is something that is not far away. In that context, it seems that Imran Khan's legal team will fight to the death and do everything they can to oppose the ten-year prison sentence against their client . Alaa kulli haal, it seems that the two parties Muslim League Nawaz and Pakistan Peoples Muslim League have enjoyed and received with open arms the sentence of ten years in prison against Imran Khan and weakened his party in the next election; because that action will preserve and maintain the environment of competition between the two camps .