PAKISTAN: After naming imprisioned former prime minister Imran Khan and three associates in a new case, Pakistani authorities have launched a criminal probe into jailed ex-PM on grounds of disclosing state secrets, as per reports.
The investigation is based on a secret cable sent by the Pakistani ambassador to Washington to Islamabad last year, which Khan is accused of making public.
Imran Khan, claims a cable was part of a U.S. plot to remove him from Pakistan’s parliament in a 2022 motion of no confidence due to his visit to Moscow before the Russian invasion on Ukraine.
Both Washington and the military deny this. Khan has a five-year ban on running for office and is currently serving a three-year term in a graft case.
The investigation is gathering evidence to indict Imran Khan on charges of leaking official secrets, according to reports. Zulfi Bukhari, a close adviser to Khan, stated that such a charge would be unlawful when the law was under fire for President Arif Alvi’s claim that he never approved recent revisions to the statute.
Imran Khan has been formally detained in connection with allegations under investigation by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), according to reports. Former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, one of the three aides, was detained on Saturday and given a four-day detention order by the FIA.
The FIA case alleges that Khan and his assistants leaked confidential papers to unauthorised individuals and “twisted the facts to achieve their ulterior motives and personal gains.”
Khan has remained at the core of politics since his departure, with a nationwide protest movement and more than 100 lawsuits filed against him.
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