Responsible verdict might convey as much as 10 years in jail in a case that reduces Khan’s probabilities of being launched in time to marketing campaign earlier than elections subsequent yr.
Jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan has pleaded not responsible to costs of leaking state secrets and techniques beneath an indictment that offers a brand new blow to his probabilities of contesting Pakistan’s common election in February.
The fees are associated to a categorised cable known as a cypher despatched to Islamabad by Pakistan’s ambassador in Washington final yr that Khan is accused of constructing public.
“The fees had been learn out loudly within the courtroom,” authorities prosecutor Shah Khawar mentioned on Wednesday, including that Khan and his co-accused, former Overseas Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, each denied the costs.
Khan’s lawyer Gohar Khan contested the indictment, saying it could be legitimate provided that signed by the accused. The previous prime minister has beforehand mentioned the contents of the cable appeared within the media from different sources.
A responsible verdict beneath the Official Secrets and techniques Act might convey as much as 10 years in jail, legal professionals mentioned.
It’s the second time Khan has been indicted on the identical costs after a superior court docket struck down an earlier indictment on technical grounds, saying the right process had not been adopted.
A brand new trial, being performed in jail on safety grounds, is because of start on Thursday within the presence of his legal professionals, household and some chosen journalists.
Khan, 71, has been in jail since he was convicted and sentenced to a few years on corruption costs on August 5.
Khan says the cable was proof of a conspiracy by the Pakistani army and US authorities to topple his authorities in 2022 after he visited Moscow simply earlier than Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Washington and Pakistan’s army deny the accusations.
The previous worldwide cricketer received the final common election in 2018, a victory that his opponents say was achieved with the backing of the army. Khan and the army later fell out, primarily due to variations over the appointment of the chief of the principle spy company.
Khan has had dozens of authorized instances filed in opposition to him, which he has denounced as an effort to banish him from politics.
The corruption sentence has been suspended by the next court docket, however he stays in jail in reference to different instances, together with a cost of instigating violence after considered one of his arrests.
Khan has been disqualified from contesting elections due to the conviction, however his authorized staff is pushing for his launch on bail and an overturning of the ban.
The brand new indictment reduces his probabilities of being launched from jail to marketing campaign for his occasion earlier than the elections on February 8.
Navy trials of Khan supporters to start
Additionally on Wednesday, Pakistan’s high court docket allowed army courts to renew the trials of greater than 100 supporters of Khan on costs of attacking army installations throughout violent demonstrations that broke out following his arrest in Might.
The most recent order by the Supreme Courtroom got here lower than two months after 5 judges on the identical court docket stopped the trial of 103 civilians who had been arrested as a part of a crackdown on Khan’s occasion, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
The violence subsided solely after Khan was launched on orders of Pakistan’s Supreme Courtroom. Though Khan can be accused of inciting folks to violence, he’s not dealing with army trial.
Pakistan’s army has immediately dominated the nation for roughly half of its 76-year historical past and continues to train monumental energy.
