A Pakistani court has decided to extend the jail custody of former Prime Minister Imran Khan by an additional 14 days to conduct further investigations into allegations of leaking state secrets, according to his lawyer.
Naeem Panjutha, Khan’s attorney, confirmed that the special court conducted the proceedings at Attock Jail. Khan began serving a three-year prison sentence on August 5th after being found guilty of corruption charges related to the unlawful sale of state gifts.
However, on Tuesday, a court suspended the sentence and granted Khan the possibility of release on bail. Despite this development, he remains in custody due to the ongoing official secrets case.
Multiple legal cases have been filed against the 70-year-old former national cricket captain since he lost a parliamentary confidence vote in April of the previous year, leading to the end of his premiership.
Khan vehemently denies any wrongdoing and insists that the accusations against him are politically motivated.
Many of Khan’s supporters believe that their leader is facing repercussions for challenging the military’s substantial influence in Pakistan’s political landscape. They suspect that the courts are being used to prevent Khan from participating in the national election, which is scheduled for later this year but might be delayed until early 2024.
While the graft case sentence has been temporarily suspended, Khan’s conviction still stands. This means that the Election Commission maintains the five-year ban on Khan’s eligibility to contest elections.
Khan faces charges under the Official Secrets Act for disclosing the contents of a confidential cable sent by Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States and utilizing it for political gain. This information is based on a case report from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), as reported by Reuters.
His former Foreign Minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who served as his top aide, has already been arrested and interrogated in connection with the same case.
Khan asserts that the cable proves his removal from office was orchestrated by the United States, claiming that the U.S. pressured Pakistan’s military to topple his government due to his visit to Russia shortly before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Both Washington and Pakistan’s military have denied these allegations.
