A protection lawyer says a Pakistani court docket has dominated that the continuing jail trial of former Prime Minister Imran Khan on expenses of unveiling state secrets and techniques is prohibited
ByMUNIR AHMED Related Press
November 21, 2023, 10:22 AM
FILE – Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan listens to a member of the media throughout a chat with reporters concerning the present political state of affairs and the continuing {cases} in opposition to him at his residence in Lahore, Pakistan, on Aug. 3, 2023. A Pakistani court docket on Monday, Oct. 23, indicted Imran Khan on expenses of unveiling official secrets and techniques after his 2022 ouster from workplace in one other slap to the previous prime minister who will doubtless be unable to run within the upcoming parliamentary elections in late January. (AP Photograph/Ok.M. Chaudary, File)
The Related Press
ISLAMABAD — A Pakistani court docket dominated Tuesday that the continuing jail trial of former Prime Minister Imran Khan on expenses of unveiling state secrets and techniques is prohibited, his lawyer stated.
The ruling by the Islamabad Excessive Court docket got here on a petition filed by Khan, lawyer Naeem Haider Panjutha stated.
It was unclear whether or not the federal government would enchantment. Authorities have insisted Khan was being tried at a jail within the garrison metropolis of Rawalpindi due to threats to his life.
The court docket’s resolution got here a couple of month after Khan was indicated for allegedly revealing state secrets and techniques, a cost that authorized specialists say carries a attainable dying sentence.
Khan’s shut aide, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who was deputy in his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf celebration, is a co-defendant within the case. Each menhave denied the fees them through the trial at Adiyala Jail.
The case in opposition to Khan is said to his speech and waving of a confidential diplomatic letter at a rally after his ouster in a no-confidence vote in parliament in 2022.
The doc — dubbed Cipher — has not been made public by both the federal government or Khan’s attorneys however was apparently diplomatic correspondence between the Pakistani ambassador to Washington and the Ministry of International Affairs in Islamabad.
Khan claimed it was proof that his ouster was a U.S. conspiracy, allegedly executed by the army and his political opponents, together with his successor Shehbaz Sharif. Washington, Pakistan’s army and Sharif have denied the declare.
Khan has not appeared in public since August, when he was sentenced to a few years for corruption. The Islamabad Excessive Court docket subsequently suspended that sentence however he remained in custody resulting from his arrest within the Cipher case.
Tuesday’s improvement got here forward of the parliamentary elections that are to be held on February 8.
In line with analysts, Khan’s celebration nonetheless might win probably the most seats, however he isn’t eligible to run for parliament resulting from his conviction within the graft case.
