31 August 2023; MEMO: A Pakistani court yesterday extended the judicial remand of the country’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan for another 14 days in a case in which he is accused of “exposing state secrets”, court records show.
The hearing was held at a prison in the northeastern Attock district – where Khan is currently being held – for “security reasons”.
The case is related to diplomatic communications between Washington and Islamabad, which Khan says were part of a US conspiracy to topple his government.
Judge Abul Hasnat, who arrived from the capital Islamabad to preside over the case, extended Khan’s remand on the prosecution’s request until 13 September, meaning the ex-prime minister will not be released despite the suspension of his three-year sentence in a graft case by the Islamabad High Court on Tuesday.
Speaking to reporters outside the jail, Khan’s lawyer Salman Safdar alleged that the defence was not informed of the ex-premier’s previous remand granted by the court on 15 August.
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“We were made to wait outside in the sun for 45 minutes to meet Mr. Imran Khan, and we asked to be allowed to form a team of 11,” said Safdar, adding that the court’s session was set up in the supervisor’s room, and “he was taken to pretrial detention without the knowledge of the lawyers.”
The new decision comes a day after a court ordered his release while maintaining a ban on his political work for a period of five years.
Khan, 70, was sentenced by a court in Islamabad earlier this month for concealing details and unlawfully selling state gifts he received during his nearly four-year stint as prime minister from 2018-2022.
He has subsequently been barred from holding public office for five years by the election commission.
The cricketer-turned-politician, who is facing over 150 cases, was ousted through a no-confidence vote in April 2022, in what many have said was as a result of an army crackdown to effectively undermine him and dismantle his political party.
