In Pakistan, the army is in charge. The troops may not be all that visible on the streets of the capital, Islamabad, or the biggest city and port, Karachi, but military leaders pull the strings. They dangle the puppets of the ruling elite, including politicians and judges.

The military is particularly eager to smite its foes in advance of elections for parliament on February 8 — and public enemy no. 1 is a wildly popular former prime minister, Imran Khan. 

In rapid succession he was convicted in August on corruption charges, then on Monday of stealing state secrets, and, on Wednesday, along with his wife, on still more corruption charges.

Mr. Khan’s fall from grace is assumed to be a result of his differences with military leaders who cannot resist asserting their power over a system in which a former prime minister, Zulfikar Bhutto, was hanged in 1979 on the highly disputed charge of ordering an assassination. His daughter, Benazir Bhutto, having twice served as prime minister, was assassinated in 2007.

No doubt Mr. Khan hoped his cachet as an Oxford-educated world-class cricket star could enhance his charisma after his party won a majority in the parliament in 2018 and he emerged as the nation’s leader — at least he got the title. Despite instituting a number of reforms, he lost the job nearly four years later in a “no confidence” vote that he believes was rigged by the army.

His ouster from power was just the beginning of his legal troubles in a succession of ridiculous trumped-up cases that would never have got him jailed if the military did not want to get rid of him. 

In his first trial, Mr. Khan was convicted of selling gifts that he had received while in office, for which he got three years. In the second trial, he was sentenced Monday to 10 years for spilling a “state secret” that turned out to be a message from his ambassador to Washington. 

Then, on Wednesday, he and his wife, Bushra Bibi, were both sentenced to 14 years for selling jewelry and gifts at Dubai, including a Rolex watch that went for a cool $300,000.

By now Mr. Khan has become almost a martyr in Pakistan’s largely faltering, unsuccessful efforts to put on a show of some of the trappings of democracy. He’s barred from running for parliament, and a number of members of his party, the Tehreek-e-Insaf, meaning Movement for Justice, including the party chairman, have also been arrested.

Just to make sure what’s left of Mr. Khan’s party does really badly at the polls, the country’s supreme court ruled that the party could not use its symbol, a cricket bat that evokes memories of his glory days as a star who led the Pakistan team to its only world championship in 1992.

Now the favorite for prime minister is Nawaz Sharif, who’s held the post three times, each time ousted in clashes with armed forces. 

After Mr. Sharif named as chief of the armed forces Pervez Musharraf, their partnership turned into a contest that the military had to win. Ousted in 1999, Mr. Sharif faced numerous charges, was sentenced to prison, and was then pardoned by Mr. Musharraf, who let him go to London.

Mr. Sharif returned in 2013 in time for his third go-around as prime minister, was ousted again in 2017, tried and convicted, and given lengthy prison terms. Permitted to go to London for medical treatment, he returned late last year. It seems he’s back in favor with the military, who saw to it that the charges and convictions against him were dropped.

All of which should be good news for Mr. Khan, who may someday return to the scene on a wave of popularity — that is, if he convinces the military chiefs he’s their man. Alternatively, he might face the same fate as Zulfikar Bhutto.