Pakistan’s jailed former prime minister Imran Khan was charged on Monday with leaking classified documents that he claimed exposed a US conspiracy to oust him from power, according to a prosecutor.
Khan, who led Pakistan from August 2018 to April 2022, was indicted by a special court under the Official Secrets Act, which carries a maximum prison term of 14 years and in some cases the death penalty.
According to Dawn news outlet, Shah Khawar of the Federal Investigation Agency announced the indictment and the charge against Khan outside Adiala Jail in Islamabad, where he is detained.
The case relates to a diplomatic cable that Khan had touted as proof that he was removed as part of a US plot backed by the powerful military establishment, according to a report by the government’s Federal Investigation Agency.
The US and Pakistan have denied the allegation.
Khan’s former deputy, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, a former foreign minister, was also indicted over the case.
Khan, a former cricket star turned politician who has a large grassroots following in the South Asian nation, was deposed by a no-confidence vote in parliament in April 2022 over accusations of economic mismanagement.
His downfall came after he fell out with the country’s military and tried to dissolve parliament, an act that the Supreme Court ruled was unconstitutional.
He has since faced a slew of criminal charges – in cases ranging from terrorism to contempt of court to blasphemy.
Despite his removal – and the criminal accusations – Khan has retained huge popular support. After he was briefly jailed in May 2023, his supporters took to the streets in nationwide protests that sometimes erupted into violence.
The military responded with a fierce crackdown, rounding up thousands of Khan’s supporters and forcing almost the entire leadership of his Pakistan Tehreek-e Insaf (PTI) party underground. Many have since left the party.
In August, Khan was convicted of corruption and sentenced to three years in jail. While that charge was later suspended, he has remained behind bars pending the court ruling on his state secret charge.
He is also barred from running in upcoming elections in January 2024.
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