Ex-Pakistan PM Khan remains in jail for ‘cypher’ hearing after graft sentence suspended

Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan, center, leaves after appearing in the Supreme Court in Islamabad on July 26, 2023. (AFP/File)

• Khan was sentenced to three years for not declaring assets he made from selling state gifts
• Another court says Khan’s detention will continue over leaking a secret diplomatic cable

ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani court suspended the three-year sentence handed to Imran Khan, the former prime minister, over graft charges on Tuesday, but the ex-cricket star remains in prison in relation to another case.
Khan was taken into custody by law enforcement agencies shortly after a trial court in Islamabad found him guilty on Aug. 5 of “corrupt practices” in a case involving the unlawful sale of state gifts during his tenure as prime minister from 2018 to 2022.
He was transported to a high-security prison in Attock and, ahead of a national election expected by November, the country’s election authorities barred him from contesting polls for five years.
Over three weeks into his jail term, the Islamabad High Court heard Khan’s plea against the sentence, which was subsequently suspended, and the former prime minister bailed for $330.
Khan has, however, faced a slew of legal cases against him since his ouster from power in a no-confidence vote in April last year.
Despite his release, a special court formed to hear cases under the recently passed Official Secrets Act issued an order to keep Khan in “judicial lockup” and bring him for a hearing on Wednesday in the so-called “cypher case.”
The case, registered with Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency after Khan’s graft conviction, refers to a diplomatic cable from the US, a copy of which prosecutors allege went missing from Khan’s possession after he used the confidential document to build an argument that his administration’s downfall was part of an international conspiracy.
The former prime minister is facing the accusation of compromising “the entire cypher security system of the state and secret communication method of Pakistani missions abroad.”
After the issuance of the special order to continue his detention, Khan’s legal team filed a new petition in the Islamabad High Court, seeking to bar authorities from further “illegal and unjustified” detention of the ex-premier.
Legal expert advocate Abid Saqi told Arab News authorities were required to initiate simultaneous remand and investigation of an accused within 14 days of arrest, but this was not done in Khan’s case.
“Now it is up to the Islamabad High Court if it grants a blanket relief to Imran Khan in all cases,” he said.
“Otherwise, the accused would have to file separate bail petitions in each case to get the relief.”