ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) — A Pakistani court ruled Tuesday that former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s closed-door trial for revealing state secrets was illegal, his lawyer said.
The Islamabad High Court’s ruling follows a petition filed through Khan, who called for a public trial, said lawyer Naeem Haider Panjutha.
It is unclear whether the government will appeal or whether long-term public hearings will be held at the same prison, in the garrison city of Rawalpindi or elsewhere. The authorities insisted that Khan be criminally tried in Adiyala because of death threats.
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The court’s ruling came about a month after Khan was charged with allegedly revealing a secret document. Legal experts say the charges against him could carry a death sentence if convicted.
Khan’s close aide, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who was an MP for his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, is a co-defendant in the case. Both men denied the charges against their trial.
The case is similar to Khan’s comments and the agitation of a confidential diplomatic letter at a rally after his ouster in a no-confidence vote in parliament in 2022. He and Qureshi are accused of passing data contained in the classified letter to unauthorized persons for political purposes. Purposes. .
The document, called Cipher, has not been made public through either the government or Khan’s lawyers, but it was diplomatic correspondence between Pakistan’s ambassador in Washington and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad.
Khan claimed that the document proves that his overthrow was an American conspiracy, allegedly executed through the military and his political opponents, adding that his successor Shehbaz Sharif. Washington, the Pakistani military and Sharif have denied the claim.
Khan has not given that impression in public since August, when he was sentenced to three years in prison on corruption charges. The Islamabad High Court later stayed the sentence, but he remained in custody due to his arrest in the Cipher case.
Tuesday’s developments come ahead of parliamentary elections on Feb. 8.
According to analysts, Khan’s party can still win maximum seats but is eligible for parliament due to his conviction in the corruption case.
Also on Tuesday, an Islamabad court briefly heard an appeal filed by Khan’s main political rival, Nawaz Sharif, against his 2018 conviction in a corruption case. Sharif, who has been prime minister three times, returned to Pakistan in October, ending four years of self-imposed exile in London, essentially to lead his party, the Pakistan Muslim League, in parliamentary elections.
During his tenure, Khan allowed Sharif to travel abroad for medical treatment. But he extended his stay in London, saying his doctors would not allow him to return to Pakistan. Sharif returned home only after Khan was arrested and imprisoned.
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