PAKISTAN COURT CHARGES JAILED EX-PAKISTAN PM IMRAN KHAN OF VIOLATING SECRECY LAW

Wed 13 December 2023:

A Pakistani court has charged former Prime Minister Imran Khan with breaking the Official Secrets Act by allegedly making public a secret diplomatic cable while in office, increasing his legal situation and jeopardizing his chances of running in national elections, Bloomberg reported.

A special court judge Abual Hasnat Muhammad Zulqarnain will examine the evidence and witnesses from Thursday, Khan’s lawyer Salman Safdar said in a text message.

Khan’s former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi was also indicted in the same case. The case was heard inside the jail where Khan is imprisoned in a separate case. Khan’s lawyers have said that, if found guilty, Khan could face the death penalty.

Both Khan and Qureshi have denied the allegations and termed the charges politically motivated.

Khan is currently facing more than 170 cases from corruption to terrorism and inciting violence — all since since he was removed from power through a parliamentary confidence vote in April 2022. The government has accused the ex-cricket captain for leaking a classified diplomatic cable sent by Pakistan’s former ambassador in Washington. The leak allegedly attempted to show that Khan’s ouster from power last year was part of a conspiracy led by the US and the South Asian country’s powerful military.

Both Washington and Pakistan’s army deny the accusations.

Khan was first indicted in the same case in October but a higher court threw out that indictment for violating legal procedures. The judges ordered a lower court judge to restart the case.

The firebrand politician was disqualified from running for public office for five years after he was convicted for hiding assets he made from the sale of state gifts in August. Khan successfully appealed a higher court to suspend his three-year jail sentence but he still awaits a court verdict to overturn that conviction and hopes to be eligible to contest in national elections scheduled for February 8.

Khan is currently imprisoned in Rawalpindi city’s Adiala Jail.

With Khan behind bars, the PTI has seen a raft of its leaders quitting the party following a state crackdown, and last week, Gohar Ali Khan, a lawyer, was elected as the new PTI chief after an intra-party election.

Pakistan, which is mired in a deep political and economic crisis and currently led by an interim setup under caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar, is set to hold general elections in February 2024, three months later than originally scheduled.

The country of 241 million people has seen inflation hit record highs, while the security situation has also worsened dramatically in the last year.

Statistics reveal nearly 600 attacks in 11 months took place in the country, an increase of 81 percent from last year during the corresponding period.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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