A Trump ally has called on Pakistan to release the former prime minister from prison, inspiring fervent hope among his supporters.

A defense lawyer says a Pakistani court has sentenced the country’s already-imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife to 14 and seven years in jail after finding them guilty of corruption.

A Pakistani court sentenced former Prime Minister Imran Khan to 14 years imprisonment on Friday in a land corruption case, a setback to nascent talks between his party and the government aimed at cooling political instability in the south Asian nation.