A Pakistani court has sentenced Imran Khan, a former Prime Minister of the country, to 10 years imprisonment for leaking state secrets.
According to the prosecutors, Khan displayed a classified document at a rally after being removed from office as Prime Minister, while claiming that the document proved he was threatened by the United States and his own government. The United States and Pakistan have both denied the claim.
Pakistan believes that the document included correspondence between the Pakistani embassy in the United States and the Foreign Ministry in Pakistan.
Last year, Khan was sentenced to three years in prison for a series of offenses, which he claimed were manufactured to prevent him from returning to political life.
Next month, Pakistan is expected to hold elections, and despite Khan himself not participating, he was expected to have significant influence on the results, particularly because of his anti-establishment rhetoric.
Khan claims that the new charges are intended to deter people from continuing to support him and his followers in the upcoming elections.
Since he was arrested in May, violent protests have taken place in Pakistan, where the government has attempted to suppress them.
Pakistani human rights organizations claim that there is little chance that the parliamentary elections in the country will be free and honest due to expected falsifications.
Additionally, the organizations have expressed their concern about the government forbidding a number of Khan's close associates from running in the elections.