In the cypher case, a special court created under the Official Secrets Act on Tuesday sentenced former prime minister Imran Khan and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi to ten years in prison. The Federal Investigation Agency’s charge sheet in the cypher case claims that Imran never returned a diplomatic document. The PTI has long maintained that the document was a threat to remove Imran from office as prime minister from the United States. Nine days remain before the general elections on February 8, which the PTI is running in the midst of a state crackdown and without an electoral symbol. The verdict has been rendered. In the days leading up to the elections, Imran and Qureshi were both incarcerated.