Imran Khan remains in jail – now for another alleged offence

A day after the former Pakistan prime minister was ordered set free by the Islamabad High Court, another court on Wednesday extended Imran Khan’s judicial remand till September 13 for alleged disclosure of state secrets.

Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain issued the order in the case of a missing confidential diplomatic cable or cipher which Khan had waved at a political rally ahead of his ouster from office last year.

The judge passed the sentence at Attock District Jail in Punjab where the Pakistan Tehriq-e-Insaf (PTI) chief is being held since his August 5 conviction in the Toshakhana corruption case.

The government told the judge to pronounce his verdict in the prison, citing security concerns.

On Tuesday, Khan’s sentence was suspended by the Islamabad High Court. But he was not set free as the judge of a special court hearing the cipher case ordered that he be keep him in prison for hearing.

FIA probes

Questioned in jail by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Khan denied that the paper which he waved in a public gathering was a cipher.

“The paper I gestured in the public was cabinet meeting minutes, and not cipher,” media reports quoted him as saying, adding that it was his right as the prime minister to keep the document with him.

However, he could not say why he claimed it to be the cipher in public.

Following denial of bail in various cases including those of violence that rocked Pakistan on May 9 after his arrest, the former cricketer submitted nine applications in the Islamabad High Court.

Of these, six were turned down by a sessions court and another three were rejected by an anti-terrorism court.

Imran Khan was Pakistan’s prime minister from 2018 to 2022.

(With agency inputs)