Pakistan court jails ex-PM Imran Khan for 10 years days ahead of polls

ISLAMABAD, Jan 30 (Reuters) - On Tuesday, a Pakistan court gave Imran Khan a 10-year jail sentence for leaking state secrets, according to his party. This is the toughest punishment the former prime minister and cricketer has ever received and comes just days before national elections.

The special court found Khan guilty of revealing the contents of a secret cable sent by Pakistan's ambassador in Washington to the government in Islamabad, as per his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party. Former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi also received a 10-year sentence in the same case.

The popular politician had earlier been sentenced to three years in jail in a corruption case in August, which kept him out of the public eye leading up to the Feb. 8 general elections.

The court is expected to provide a written verdict within a day or two. Khan's PTI party stated that they would challenge Tuesday's decision. "We don't accept this illegal decision," posted Khan's lawyer, Naeem Panjutha, on the social media platform X.

Khan's aide Zulfikar Bukhari told Reuters that the legal team had no chance to represent him or cross-examine witnesses, and the proceedings took place in maximum-security Adiala jail in Rawalpindi.

Another of Khan's lawyers, Ali Zafar, told ARY television that given the trial and sentencing circumstances, the chances of the case being overturned on appeal were "100%."

Bukhari called the conviction an attempt to weaken support for Khan. "People will now make sure they come out and vote in larger numbers," he told Reuters.

Khan was previously sentenced to three years in a corruption case, ruling him out of the upcoming election. His legal team hoped to secure his release from jail, where he has been since August last year, but the latest conviction makes that unlikely even as the charges are contested in a higher court.

The party of three-time Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Khan's main political opponent, stated that the verdict was not severe enough. "I think, based on his carelessness and crime - about important national interests - this is a very light sentence," said Ahsan Iqbal, a senior Sharif aide, in a TV interview.

Analysts believe Sharif's party is the frontrunner to form the next government following the polls. Sharif and his daughter, Maryam Nawaz, were convicted and jailed over graft allegations days before the last general election in 2018, a situation that analysts say helped Khan, while Khan's sentence now helps Sharif. Both blame the military.

Khan's sentencing just before the polls will "raise questions about the elections' credibility," said Mazhar Abbas, a Karachi-based analyst.

Pakistan's recovery from an economic crisis depends on political stability. The election comes as Pakistan is navigating a tricky recovery path under a $3 billion International Monetary Fund bailout that helped it narrowly avert a sovereign default last year.

Khan has been fighting dozens of cases since he was ousted from power in a parliamentary vote of no-confidence in 2022. Khan says the secret cable mentioned in the case was proof of a conspiracy by the Pakistani military and the U.S. government to topple his government in 2022 after he visited Moscow, just before Russia invaded Ukraine. Washington and the Pakistan military deny the accusations. Khan has previously said the contents of the cable appeared in the media from other sources.

Khan's PTI, which won the 2018 elections, suffered a major setback earlier this month when a court upheld the Election Commission's decision to strip the party of its traditional election symbol, the cricket bat. His candidates are now contesting as independents, many of them on the run amid what the party calls a crackdown backed by the military. The military denies this.

Khan's media team posted a message from the jailed leader on X ahead of the verdict. "These people want to provoke you by giving me a harsh sentence in this case so that you go out on the streets and protest, then add unknown people to the crowd and then do another false flag operation," the post said.

In May last year, the first time Khan was arrested, his supporters were accused of rioting, and hundreds were arrested and tried. Khan denies his supporters were part of the mob. Many of them have faced arrest while attending subsequent party rallies or demonstrations. Khan's party has not called for protests or demonstrations before the election. Khan urged his supporters to vote for candidates backed by him. "This is your war, and this is your test that you have to take revenge for every injustice by your vote on February 8 while remaining peaceful," the post on X said.