Accusation Against Former Pakistani Prime Minister Khan in Official Secrets Case

The party of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan announced that a court has charged Khan and one of his deputies in a case related to the disclosure of official secrets on Monday, a further blow to the former cricket player currently in custody ahead of the general elections scheduled for January. This charge relates to a confidential telegram sent by Pakistan's ambassador in Washington to Islamabad early last year, with Khan being accused of leaking its content. Khan denies this accusation, stating that other sources disclosed the telegram’s content to the media. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party informed the media that the trial for Khan and his former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi will begin on Friday. The party indicated they will appeal the charges. Khan pointed out that the telegram suggests a U.S. conspiracy to push the Pakistani military to oust him in a parliamentary vote last year due to his visit to Moscow just prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Both the United States and the Pakistani military deny these allegations. Khan was ousted from his position through a no-confidence vote in 2022 and subsequently led protests against the government to push for early elections and against the military, which he accused of attempting to marginalize him.