Former Pakistan PM Imran Khan, Shah Mahmood Qureshi get 10-year jail term in Cipher case

Former Pakistan PM Imran Khan, Shah Mahmood Qureshi get 10-year jail term in Cipher case

Islamabad: A Pakistani court sentenced former prime minister Imran Khan to 10 years in jail after finding him guilty of violating the nation’s Official Secrets Act by making a diplomatic cable public when he was in power.

A special court judge Abual Hasnat Muhammad Zulqarnain handed down the order on Tuesday, Imran Khan’s lawyer Shoaib Shaheen said in a text message. His former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi was also convicted for 10 years in the same case, he said.

Imran Khan can appeal against the verdict in a higher court.

The case pertains to allegations that Imran Khan had shared contents of a secret cable sent by the country’s ambassador in Washington to the government in Islamabad.

Imran Khan’s party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), said both Khan and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had been sentenced to 10 years each by a special court. It said the party would challenge the decision and called it a “sham case”.