Pakistan Ex-PM Imran Khan’s Jail Custody Extended for Two Week

Imran Khan's 14-day jail sentence was extended by a Pakistani court on Wednesday so that authorities could continue questioning him over allegations that he had leaked national secrets.

According to Naeem Panjutha, the special court held its hearings at Attock Jail, where Khan began serving a three-year prison term for corruption on August 5 after being convicted responsible for illegally selling official goods.

Khan may be released on bail, according to a court's Tuesday suspension of that sentence, but he was prohibited from leaving since he was still being held without bond in the case involving state secrets.

Multiple cases have been lodged against the 70-year-old former national cricket captain since he lost the premiership in a parliamentary confidence vote in April last year.

Khan denies any wrongdoing, and says the accusations against him are politically motivated.

Khan's supporters believe their leader is being punished for having the temerity to challenge the military's dominant influence in Pakistan's politics, and that the courts are being used to keep him out of a national election that is due later this year, but could be delayed till early 2024.

While the sentence in the graft case has been suspended, the conviction still stands, giving the Election Commission no reason to remove the five-year ban on Khan contesting elections.

Khan has been charged under the Official Secrets Act for making public the contents of a confidential cable sent by Pakistan's ambassador to the United States and using it for political gains, according to a Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) case report seen by Reuters.

Former Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, his senior adviser, has already been detained and questioned in connection with the investigation.

Khan claims that the cable demonstrates that his dismissal came at the US government's request. He claims that the US pushed Pakistan's military to overthrow his administration because of a visit Khan made to Russia just before the country invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

The military of Pakistan and Washington have refuted that.

Source: Reuters