Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan Jailed For 10 Years

• A Pakistan court has sentenced a former prime minister and cricketer, Imran Khan to 10 years imprisonment
• Khan was sent to prison on Tuesday, January 30, just days before the national parliamentary elections.
• An aide to the popular politician, Zulfikar Bukhari said the conviction was an attempt to weaken support for Khan

Legit.ng journalist Adekunle Dada has over 5 years of experience covering metro and government policy

Pakistan, Islamabad - A Pakistan court sentenced former prime minister, Imran Khan to 10 years in imprisonment for leaking state secrets on Tuesday, January 29.

According to Reuters, the sentence is the hardest against Khan in multiple cases coming just days before national elections.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party said Khan was found guilty of making public the contents of a secret cable sent by Pakistan's ambassador in Washington to the government in Islamabad.

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The jail term will ensure Khan remains out of the public spotlight ahead of next week's parliamentary vote which will also lead to the nomination of a new prime minister.

Khan's lawyer, Naeem Panjutha, said it would challenge the court decision.

Writing via his X handle, Panjutha said: "We don't accept this illegal decision."

Another of Khan's lawyers, Ali Zafar, said the chances of the case being quashed on appeal were "100%" because of the circumstances of the trial and sentencing.

Khan's aide Zulfikar Bukhari said the conviction was an attempt to weaken support for Khan.

"People will now make sure they come out and vote in larger numbers."

Syed Zulfiqar Bukhari, a spokesperson for Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, said the party will challenge the court’s decision, Al Jazeera reported.

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Khan uses AI voice clone to campaign from jail

Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that Artificial intelligence allowed Khan to campaign from behind bars on Monday, with a voice clone of the opposition leader giving an impassioned speech on his behalf.

Khan has been locked up since August and is being tried for leaking classified documents, allegations he says have been trumped up to stop him contesting general elections due in February.

But his PTI party used artificial intelligence to make a four-minute message from the 71-year-old, headlining a "virtual rally" hosted on social media overnight Sunday into Monday despite internet disruptions which monitor NetBlocks said were consistent with previous attempts to censor Khan.

Source: Legit.ng