Islamabad: A Pakistani court has sentenced former prime minister Imran Khan and one of his party deputies to 10 years in prison each, after finding them guilty of revealing official secrets.

The verdict drew swift criticism from Khan’s followers. It was also another blow to Khan, a former cricket star turned Islamist politician who was ousted through a no-confidence vote in Parliament in April 2022 and is serving a three-year prison sentence in a graft case.

According to Zulfiqar Bukhari, chief spokesman for Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, or PTI, the verdict was announced on Tuesday by a special court set up at the prison in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, where Khan is held.

Authorities said Khan and his deputy Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who also received a 10-year sentence, have the right to appeal the ruling in the case popularly known as The Cipher.

The latest development comes before the February 8 parliamentary elections in Pakistan — a vote that Khan is barred from running in because of his previous criminal conviction.