A military court in Pakistan on Thursday sentenced 60 supporters of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan to prison terms ranging from two to 10 years for allegedly attacking army facilities.
A nephew of the 72-year-old imprisoned leader and two former army officers are among those convicted, as reported by the Pakistani army’s media wing. Khan has been in jail since August 2023 and faces a range of charges, including corruption, sedition, and inciting violence against the military.
“The nation, government, and the armed forces remain steadfast in their commitment to upholding justice and ensuring that the inviolable writ of the state is maintained,” the military statement said.
The convictions came less than a week after a military court handed down sentences to 25 members of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or PTI, party on the same charges.
The allegations against Khan supporters stem from nationwide protests in May 2023, during which demonstrators stormed and ransacked several military installations in an unprecedented show of public outrage against the powerful Pakistani institution.
The PTI has rejected the “secretive” military trials. Khan and his aides deny any wrongdoing, saying intelligence agency operatives had infiltrated the ranks of “peaceful” PTI protesters and carried out the vandalism to justify a subsequent state crackdown on the opposition party, charges government officials rejected.
Last week’s sentencing of the initial group of 25 PTI members to “vigorous imprisonment” of up to 10 years drew an international backlash.
The United States urged Pakistani authorities to respect the right to a fair trial and due process in line with the country’s constitution.
“The United States is deeply concerned that Pakistani civilians have been sentenced by a military tribunal. … These military courts lack judicial independence, transparency, and due process guarantees,” said a State Department statement on Monday.
Britain also criticized Pakistan for putting civilians on trial in military courts, saying they lack “transparency, independent scrutiny” and undermine “the right to a fair trial.”
The European Union condemned the sentencing of Pakistani civilians by military courts, calling the practice “inconsistent with the obligations that Pakistan has undertaken under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.”
The Pakistani government has defended the military trials and subsequent convictions, stating they uphold the right to a fair trial and allow appeals within military tribunals and civil courts.
“We also have underlined on multiple occasions that Pakistan’s constitution and Pakistan’s legal system have the capacity to resolve any issues that arise internally,” foreign ministry spokesperson Mumtaz Baloch told her weekly news conference Thursday. “[The] Pakistani system has the remedy of judicial review by superior courts. … We will continue to uphold our Constitution and Pakistani law and our obligations under international law.”
