A special court in Pakistan extended the judicial remand of former Prime Minister Imran Khan till September 13, in a case related to the alleged disclosure of state secrets.
This comes a day after the Islamabad High Court suspended his sentence in the Toshakhana corruption case and ordered his release. With the latest order, the former Prime Minister will continue to be in jail.
The case is related to a missing cipher, a classified state document that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief had waved during a political rally ahead of his ouster as Prime Minister last year.
As per the charges against Khan under the Official Secrets Act, he has been accused of making public the contents of the confidential document sent by Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States.
He was also charged with using state secrets for political gains.
The hearing was held inside the Attock district jail where Imran Khan has been kept since August 5, following his conviction in the Toshakhana corruption case.
The 70-year-old politician’s three-year jail term in the corruption case was suspended by a two-member bench of the Islamabad High Court on Tuesday. However, judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain, who was hearing the cipher case, ordered to keep him in prison and produce him for a hearing on Wednesday.
Though the conviction was stayed in the Toshakhana case, in which he was charged with unlawfully selling state gifts acquired by him and his family during his 2018-2022 tenure, Imran Khan remains barred from politics for five years, preventing him from contesting an upcoming election.
www.indiatoday.in
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