Supporters and activists of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party shout slogans during a protest demanding the release of PTI leader Imran Khan, in Peshawar on 28 January 2024.

• Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and PTI
  vice-president Shah Mehmood Qureshi have been sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment.

• The sentencing took place inside Adiala jail, where Khan has
  been confined since his arrest in August.

• PTI has been largely absent from the public sphere in the
  election run-up, with candidates forced to run as individuals.

Former
Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan was sentenced Tuesday to 10 years in prison,
less than two weeks before the country votes in an election his party has been
hamstrung from contesting.

Khan’s
sentence was handed down inside Adiala jail, where he has been confined for
much of the time since his August arrest and buried under an avalanche of court
cases he says have been orchestrated to prevent his return to office.

The
same sentence was handed down on Shah Mehmood Qureshi, vice-president of the
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party who served as foreign minister under Khan.

a spokesperson for the party told AFP:

State
media also reported the convictions and sentences.

The
case against both men related to allegations they leaked classified state
documents.

Khan
was prime minister from 2018 to 2022 – when he was ousted in a no-confidence
vote after losing the backing of the nation’s military kingmakers.

As
opposition leader, he waged an unprecedented campaign of defiance against the
top brass, accusing them of ousting him in a US-backed conspiracy and of
plotting an assassination attempt which wounded him.

Khan
was briefly arrested last May, and Islamabad used the resulting unrest to
justify a sweeping crackdown on PTI, which has seen many senior leaders defect
or go underground.

“This
is murder of justice,” said Tauseef Ahmed Khan, a human rights activist
and political analyst.

READ | Jailed ex-premier Imran Khan barred from Pakistan politics for 5 years

“But
his popularity among the people will grow in leaps and bounds as his
sympathisers will increase because of this gross injustice.”

PTI
has been largely absent from the public sphere in the run-up to elections.

The
party has been stripped of its election symbol, and candidates have been forced
to run as individuals.

At
the same time, Nawaz Sharif – head of one of the dynastic parties that have
historically helmed Pakistan – has returned from self-imposed exile and seen
his myriad convictions dissolve in the courts.

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Analysts
say it’s a sign the three-time former prime minister is the favoured candidate
of the top brass, who have directly ruled Pakistan for much of its history.

According
to Pakistan’s constitution, elections must be held within 90 days of parliament
being dissolved – which happened five months ago in August.

The
election commission blamed the delay on the need to redraw constituency
boundaries following a new census in 2023.

In
the interim, Pakistan has been ruled by a caretaker government regarded as
pliable by the military establishment.