Cipher case: Pakistan ex-PM Imran Khan, top aide sentenced to 10 years in prison for leaking state secrets

Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and his party’s vice-president Shah Mahmood Qureshi were sentenced Tuesday to 10 years in jail in a controversial case related to a leaked document. “Former prime minister Imran Khan and PTI (Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf) vice-president Qureshi have been sentenced to 10 years each inside prison in the cypher case,” a spokesman for the party told AFP. The verdict comes shortly before the February 8 general elections, in which the PTI is participating despite facing a state crackdown and without an electoral symbol. The cipher case revolves around a diplomatic document that the Federal Investigation Agency alleges Imran failed to return. The PTI maintains that the document contained a threat from the United States to remove Imran as prime minister. In December, the Supreme Court approved the post-arrest bails of Imran and Qureshi. However, Imran remained in custody due to other cases, while Qureshi’s anticipated release was hindered when he was manhandled and re-arrested in a new case on May 9.