A COURT in eastern Pakistan sentenced opposition leader Omar Ayub and 195 other supporters of former prime minister Imran Khan to 10 years in prison each today over 2023 riots linked to Mr Khan’s arrest.

The court announced the verdict in three separate cases heard in the city of Faisalabad in Punjab province.

The charges stemmed from violence that spread nationwide on May 9, 2023 after Mr Khan’s arrest on corruption charges.

The violence subsided only after Mr Khan was temporarily released on the orders of Pakistan’s Supreme Court. A trial court went on to convict him in August 2023 and he has stopped appearing in public.

Some of his supporters have since been tried and sentenced by military courts.

Among those convicted by the court today were at least six members of the National Assembly and a senator from Mr Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party (PTI).

“They were accused of participating in attacks on military officers, government buildings and vehicles during the 2023 riots,” a defence lawyer Changaiz Kakar said.

He said it was the first time that political activists have been convicted and sentenced in such large numbers and appeals would be filed.

PTI chairman Gohar Ali Khan denounced the latest convictions, saying the sentences were “baseless,” and noted they came just ahead of planned rallies to mark the third anniversary of Mr Khan’s multiple convictions.

Mr Khan was ousted from power in 2022 through a no-confidence vote led by Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif.

After his ousting the cricket star turned politician accused the military and his political rival Mr Sharif of being part of a United States plot to remove him.

Mr Sharif and the US deny the charges.