Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has been sentenced to 10 years in jail on Tuesday, 30 January, in a case of related to the leaking of state secrets.

A special court established under the Official Secrets Act handed both former premier Imran Khan and ex-foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi 10 years in jail in the cipher case, according to Dawn.

During an interrogation, Khan acknowledged misplacing a confidential diplomatic cable, and allegations against Khan claimed improper use of the classified document. This cable had been previously highlighted by Khan as evidence of a US-backed plot to unseat him from the prime minister's position the prior year.

The alleged encrypted message documented a meeting involving US State Department officials, including Donald Lu, the Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, and the former Pakistani envoy, Asad Majeed Khan.

Khan had waved the alleged document during a public rally shortly before being removed as prime minister in April 2022, asserting it as evidence of a US-backed foreign conspiracy.

The encrypted document case against Khan escalated when his principal secretary, Azam Khan, affirmed to a magistrate and the FIA that Khan had utilized the US encrypted communication for his own "political advantage" and to forestall a vote of no confidence against him the preceding year.