A Pakistani court on Tuesday sentenced former Pakistan Prime Minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi to 10 years in jail in the cipher case.
The case is linked to a diplomatic document that Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency claims Imran Khan never returned. The former prime minister claimed that the document contained a threat by the US to topple Imran Khan when he was in office.
A special court of Pakistan reopened the encryption trial in the Adiala District Jail last month. Imran Khan and Shah Mehmood Qureshi were charged for the second time in this case on 13 December.
Pakistan’s former prime minister and foreign minister, who is currently jailed, first faced charges in the case in October but pleaded not guilty.
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) had declared the government’s notification of the prison trial “flawed” and the entire proceedings were quashed.
New public defenders were appointed after former defense attorneys failed to appear for subsequent court hearings.
Imran Khan criticized the trial, calling it a “joke” highlighting that both the prosecution and defense teams colluded with the government.
PTI responded with a post on social networking site X saying that Pakistan is behind Imran Khan and Shah Mehmood Qureshi. “Pakistan stands behind Imran Khan and Shah Mehmood Qureshi who defended Pakistan and represented Haqeeqi Azadi. No such mock trial can change what happened in March to April 2022 at the behest of Donald Lu. This sentence will be in the dustbin at the appeal stage,” the party said.
Image Source: The Pakistan Daily
