Pakistan ex-PM Khan’s legal challenges deepen as sedition, criminal conspiracy added to charges

Pakistan ex-PM Khan’s legal challenges deepen as sedition, criminal conspiracy added to charges
Pakistan's former prime minister, Imran Khan gestures after arriving at a registrar office in Lahore High court to sign surety bonds for bail in various cases, in Lahore on July 3, 2023. (AFP/File)
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Updated 21 September 2023
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Pakistan ex-PM Khan’s legal challenges deepen as sedition, criminal conspiracy added to charges

Pakistan ex-PM Khan’s legal challenges deepen as sedition, criminal conspiracy added to charges
  • New charges added to cases related to violent protests on May 9 after Khan was briefly arrested in land graft case
  • Khan currently in jail in another corruption case after he was convicted last month and sentenced to three years prison

ISLAMABAD: Additional charges have been framed against former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and other suspects in a case related to violent protests in May and they now also stand accused of criminal conspiracy and sedition, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Investigation Dr. Anoosh Masood Chaudhry said on Wednesday.

Protests broke out across Pakistan after Khan’s brief arrest in a land graft case on May 9 in which his supporters ransacked and damaged military and other properties. Khan was released on bail then but is currently in jail after being convicted in another corruption case and has practically been disqualified from running for elections, due in March. Khan and other senior aides are accused of instigating the mob.

In a press conference, Chaudhry said nine additional sections pertaining to treason had been included in the cases related to the violence that erupted on May 9.

“When you incite someone against the interests of the country, we have added those sections [in the FIR], that show intention,” the police officer said, adding that evidence of inciting mutiny and planning vandalism had been found against Khan. 

“If you have been part of that conspiracy that means you are involved in the activity.”

“Section 120(B) [pertaining to punishment of criminal conspiracy] of the Pakistan Penal Code has been added to all the cases related to the May 9 incidents,” Chaudhry said.

Other sections of the PPC added include 505 (statements conducing to public mischief), 153 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot), 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups, etc.), 153-B (inducing students, etc., to take part in political activity), 146 (rioting), 131 (abetting mutiny, or attempting to seduce a soldier, sailor or airman from his duty), 121 (waging or attempting to wage war or abetting the waging of war against Pakistan), 121-A (conspiracy to commit offenses punishable by Section 121), 120-A (definition of criminal conspiracy), 120-B (punishment of criminal conspiracy) and 107 (abetment).

Khan, who is currently jailed in Attock prison, faces a range of legal challenges, including a case related to leaking official secrets. The 70-year-old former cricket star has been at the center of a political crisis since he lost a confidence vote in parliament in April 2022.

In late August, a high court suspended Khan’s prison sentence for corruption just weeks after he was jailed, but a prior order for his remand in custody in the state secrets case prevented his release. The latest extension of the remand order, passed on September 13, will keep Khan in jail until September 26.

In the state secrets case, Khan is charged with making public the contents of a confidential cable sent by Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States and using it for political gain, according to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

Khan alleges that the cable proves the United States had pressed Pakistan’s military to orchestrate the fall of his government because he had visited Russia shortly before its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Washington and the Pakistani military have denied Khan’s accusations.

In the corruption case, Khan was sentenced to three years in jail for failing to declare assets earned from the sale of state gifts during his time as prime minister from 2018 to 2022. 

As a result, the election commission barred him from contesting elections for five years, and although the prison sentence was suspended last month, the conviction still stands.