Pakistan: Imran Khan faces trouble in official secrets case

A Pakistani court on Monday accused former PM Imran Khan and his deputy in a case involving official secrets acts, according to his party, dealing yet another setback to the imprisoned former cricketer ahead of a general election that is anticipated for January.

Khan is suspected of leaking a secret cable that the Pakistani ambassador to Washington sent to Islamabad at the beginning of last year.

Khan disputes that and claims that other sources were used to publish its contents in the media.

Shah Mahmood Quershi, the former foreign minister, and Khan were both charged by a special court, according to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which also announced that the case would start on Friday. It declared that it would contest the indictment.

Khan said that the cable was evidence of a U.S. plot to have the Pakistani military support his removal from office in a 2022 parliamentary vote since he had visited Moscow right before Russia invaded Ukraine.

The military of Pakistan and the United States both dispute that.

After Khan was ousted from power in 2022 due to his defeat in the no-confidence vote, he organised protests to demand an early election and against the military, which he said was attempting to undermine him.

The military, which has frequently controlled directly and exerted influence over civil administrations, denied that.

Khan has had numerous lawsuits brought against him, which he has criticised as an attempt to exile him from politics. In one graft case, he was found guilty and given a three-year prison term.

He is still in jail due to other crimes, such as inciting violence and the case of government secrets, despite the fact that the sentence was suspended.

According to attorneys, a guilty finding under the Official Secrets Act could result in a term of up to 14 years in jail or perhaps the death penalty.

Imran Khan’s party claimed that the hearing on Monday was held without media or general public access on the grounds of the Adyala Jail, close to Islamabad, where the PTI chief is being held.

Khan’s legal team is attempting to get him released on bail before the election despite the fact that he is prohibited from running in the forthcoming general election due to his conviction for graft.

After returning home from a four-year self-imposed exile, Khan’s longtime adversary and three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif announced the start of his party’s election campaign on Saturday. He pledged to combat inflation.

(With agency inputs)