A Pakistani court has extended the jail custody of former prime minister Imran Khan for 14 days to investigate charges of leaking state secrets, according to his lawyer Naeem Panjutha.
The proceedings took place at Attock Jail, where Khan has been serving a three-year prison sentence for corruption since August 5. He was found guilty of unlawfully selling state gifts.
Although a court suspended the corruption sentence on Tuesday and granted him bail, he is still under remand in the official secrets case, preventing him from leaving.
Since losing the premiership in a parliamentary confidence vote in April last year, several cases have been lodged against the 70-year-old former national cricket captain. He has consistently denied any wrongdoing, claiming that the accusations are politically motivated.
Khan’s supporters believe that he is being punished for challenging the military’s dominant influence in Pakistan’s politics. They argue that the courts are being utilized to prevent him from participating in a national election scheduled for later this year, which may be postponed until early 2024.
Although the sentence in the corruption case has been suspended, the conviction still stands. As a result, the Election Commission cannot lift the five-year ban on Khan’s participation in elections.
In the Official Secrets Act case, Khan has been charged with disclosing the contents of a confidential cable sent by Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States and using it for political purposes. The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has prepared a case report supporting the charges.
Furthermore, Khan’s former Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, a close aide, has already been arrested and interrogated in connection with the case.
Khan alleges that the cable proves that his government was overthrown by the United States, which purportedly pressured Pakistan’s military following his visit to Russia shortly before the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
However, both Washington and Pakistan’s military have denied these claims.
(Reporting by Asif Shahzad; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)
Credit: The Star : News Feed
