Ex-Pakistan Premier Khan says charges against him attempt to 'demoralize' voters

By Islamuddin Sajid

ISLAMABAD (AA) - Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan, convicted in at least three cases, said on Friday the cases against him have no legal basis, terming them an attempt to "demoralize" his supporters and stop them from voting in the general election next week.

The former cricket star and his wife Bushra Bibi were each handed a 14-year jail sentence on Wednesday in a case related to illegal selling of state gifts. The ruling came a day after Khan received a 10-year sentence for leaking state secrets.

Khan faces over 100 charges, including corruption and terrorism since being removed from power in 2022. He says the cases against him are politically motivated and meant to sideline him ahead of the ballot.

The unfolding of the cases "highlights their frivolous, baseless, and politically motivated nature," the former prime minister, who has been in jail since August, said on X.

Khan said he was "deprived" of his "legal right of cross-examining the witness or presenting my witnesses" in the case in which he is accused of making public a classified cable, or a cypher, sent to Islamabad by Pakistan’s ambassador in Washington in 2022.

The judge in the cipher case had said Khan and former Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, who was also sentenced to 10-year imprisonment, compromised Pakistan's international standing, credibility and “standing of our diplomats and diplomacy with adverse implications for our future diplomatic reporting culture.”

“It is evident that Pakistan has faced serious economic, diplomatic and political consequences due to the offences committed by the accused Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi and Shah Mehmood Qureshi,” he wrote in the ruling.

Khan also denounced corruption allegations, saying: "By the grace of God, I have led my life with impeccable financial integrity and credibility with the people of Pakistan donating billions of rupees for my philanthropic projects."

"Even during the sham trial, when they sensed that the trial would conclude in absolving me, they deprived me of my fundamental right to cross-examination," he added.

“Pakistanis, you must know that all of these cases have no legal basis; they are part of an on-going political circus in the country for the past 22 months,” Khan said.

“The hasty manner in which all these cases are being concluded, is for only one purpose which is to demoralise the voters, especially the youth. But, you must not be disheartened, as Allah is the ultimate planner.”

He said "our most powerful and meaningful weapon" is vote, which "we must wield it to overthrow crooks who have been imposed upon us."

Pakistan is holding general elections on Feb. 8, but the election commission has barred Khan's party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, from using its electoral symbol, a cricket bat, on the ballot. He also remains disqualified and cannot contest elections or hold public office.