A Pakistani military court on Thursday announced that it had sentenced Lt. Gen. Faiz Hameed, the former head of the country’s intelligence agency, to 14 years in prison after convicting him on charges of corruption, political meddling and misuse of authority.
The verdict marks a rare moment in Pakistan’s history. It is the first time that a former chief of the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence, or I.S.I., has been prosecuted and imprisoned by the military establishment. The sentencing caps the dramatic fall of a spy chief who once wielded immense power in Pakistani politics, where the military has long acted as kingmaker in the country’s turbulent history.
General Hameed, who was arrested in August 2024, was convicted on four charges, including engaging in political activities, violating the Official Secrets Act, misusing government resources and causing wrongful financial loss, according to a statement from the military’s public relations wing. The court sentenced him to hard labor, known as “rigorous imprisonment” under Pakistani law.
His prosecution has been widely viewed as part of a continuing crackdown by the military on allies of Imran Khan, the imprisoned former prime minister, who was in office from 2018 to 2022 and handpicked General Hameed to lead the spy agency.
Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, who took command of the army in November 2022, has been consolidating his power. Last month, Parliament approved a constitutional amendment that handed Field Marshal Munir expanded powers and lifetime legal immunity. The changes put him in charge of all military branches and reduced the independence of the country’s highest court by shifting key oversight functions away from the judiciary.
Lawmakers allied with Field Marshal Munir called the changes a stability measure, but critics say it concentrates far too much authority in one office.
Mian Ali Ashfaq, a lawyer for General Hameed, said he plans to appeal the conviction. “We are in the process of preparing and filing an application to get the copy of the judgment to file an appeal against the decision,” Mr. Ashfaq said.
The military said in its statement that a military court would deal separately with General Hameed’s alleged “involvement in fomenting vested political agitation and instability in cohorts with political elements,” suggesting that additional proceedings may be underway.
Analysts interpreted this as a veiled reference to ongoing investigations into General Hameed’s alleged role in coordinating violent demonstrations in May 2023, when thousands of the former prime minister’s supporters stormed military installations across Pakistan to protest his arrest.
The general’s ambitions — he openly sought to become army chief, widely considered to be Pakistan’s most powerful position — ultimately put him at odds with the current military leadership under Field Marshal Munir. General Hameed was one of four generals who were in the running for that position.
General Hameed’s court-martial stems partly from a 2017 scandal involving a private housing development in Islamabad, where he and his brother were accused of attempting to seize control of the real estate project by arresting and blackmailing its owner.
During his tenure at the I.S.I. from 2019 to 2021, General Hameed became one of Pakistan’s most feared figures. Opposition politicians accused him of orchestrating their arrests on what they said were fabricated charges and of running government affairs from behind the scenes.
His pursuit of personal advantage were “unusually brazen,” said Raza Rumi, a political analyst and journalist based in New York. “These allegations, now brought into sharper focus through his court-martial, underline the scale of irregularities that had gone unchecked for years.”
General Hameed’s prosecution is also a clear signal to anyone who might challenge the military’s power, analysts say.
“It sends a strong message to Imran Khan supporters that they should not expect his release any time soon and that they should back off from their recent protests,” said Omar R. Quraishi, a columnist for The News, an English daily news outlet based in Karachi, Pakistan. “It’s also a strong message to military officers to stay in line.”
The military establishment has waged a relentless crackdown on Mr. Khan and his supporters since he was removed from power in 2022 by a no-confidence vote in Parliament, barred from office and then sentenced to prison the following year.
Mr. Khan is imprisoned on what he says are politically motivated charges, while his party has been effectively barred from meaningful political participation. Mr. Khan and his supporters accuse Field Marshal Munir of employing the same authoritarian tactics that General Hameed once used on their behalf.
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