, Dec. 16 -- terrorism court in Pakistan has sentenced a senior figure of a prohibited Islamist party to 35 years in prison for inciting violence, more than a year after he openly urged the killing of the country's then-chief justice, according to court officials and a defence lawyer on Tuesday.

The convict, Zaheerul Hassan Shah, is a leader of the banned Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan. He was taken into custody last year after a video spread on social media in which he announced a reward of 10 million rupees ($36,000) for anyone who beheaded then-Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa.

Hardline religious groups had strongly criticised Isa after he granted bail to a member of the minority Ahmadi community who was accused in a blasphemy case.

The Ahma...