A Pakistani court declared illegal the jail trial of former Prime Minister Imran Khan on charges of leaking state secrets. This case is known as Cipher case.
A special court has been conducting the trial on a jail premises citing security concerns since Imran Khan was indicted on the charges in October 2023.
Imran Khan’s legal team had challenged the law ministry notification that ordered the jail trial in charges related to a classified cable sent to Islamabad by Pakistan’s ambassador in the United States last year.
What is the Cipher case on Imran Khan?
Imran Khan has been accused of making the cable public. He was charged for harming the sovereign security of Pakistan.
The former cricket hero was forced from office in 2022 after losing a no-confidence vote in Pakistan parliament. At present, Imran Khan has had dozens of legal cases filed against him, which he has called an effort to keep him out of politics. He has been convicted in one graft case and sentenced to three years in jail.
While, the sentence was suspended, Imran Khan remains in prison in connection with other cases. The former ruling party of Mr. Khan had said the diplomatic cable from the Washington embassy contained a threat from the US to topple the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) government.
The former prime minister, who has been convicted in one graft case and suspended sentence to three years in jail, has been kept in the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi since September 26, 2023, when he was shifted there from the District Jail in Attock.
Earlier in August 2023, Pakistan’s law ministry issued a no-objection certificate (NOC) for the jail trial of the former prime minister as requested by the interior ministry and the special court.
Meanwhile, the former prime minister has said that he has been implicated in dozens of cases to keep him out of politics ahead of general elections in February 2024 because of his differences with the powerful Army generals of the country.
Conclusion
The general elections in Pakistan are scheduled for February 8, 2024. Former three-time Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has also returned from the UK from self-imposed exile last month.
Nawaz Sharif is the opponent of Imran Khan. His return to Pakistan will surely change the dynamics of Pakistan politics.
