In Pakistan, former Prime Minister Imran Khan and Shahmud Kurashi, a deputy in Techrick-I-Insaf Party (Rightness Movement), were sentenced to 10 years in prison for the disclosure of state secrets. The verdict was announced at the hearing that took place in Adiral prison in Ravalpind.
Imran Khan, who has lost the post of Prime Minister because of the voting of distrust in April 2022, is already serving a three-year term of imprisonment in a bribery case. He was declared a sentence before the parliamentary election on February 8.
This is not the first case of the removal of Imaran Khan from participation in the parliamentary elections because of his conviction. His party stated that he would challenge this sentence.
"We reject this illegal decision," said Imran Khan's lawyer, Naim Pangut, on the social network X, previously known as Twitter.
The last verdict concerns that Khan used a confidential diplomatic document during a public rally after his removal in 2022. At that time, Imran Khan argued that a document known as a "cipher" indicates that his removal was planned by Pakistan's army with the United States. However, the document itself was not made public, and it is attributed to diplomatic correspondence between the Embassy of Islamabad in Washington and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan.
Despite the ban on participation in the upcoming elections, a 71-year-old former Cryquet player and his Techrick-I-Insaf Party remain extremely popular in Pakistan.
On October 21, his ancient opponent, former Prime Minister Navas Sharif, returned to the country after a four-year unauthorized exile and launched the election campaign of his Pakistana Muslim League party at a large rally in Lahora. The Muslim League and Techrick-I-Insaf are considered to be the main competitors in the upcoming elections.
Pakistan, with a population of 241 million people, is experiencing a serious economic crisis that has led to a sharp deterioration of living standards.
