Pakistan Special Court indicted Imran Khan

The Pakistan Special Court today indicted the former prime minister Imran Khan and former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi in a cipher case.

Both Khan and Qureshi pleaded “not guilty” as both PTI leaders were indicted in an official secret acts case. The indictment case came when the special court rejected the plea of Imran seeking postponement in the process.

Pakistan ex-PM Imran Khan, his deputy indicted by court in official secrets acts case – Geo TV https://t.co/T32IHNyWGs pic.twitter.com/eknOkpY2s4
— Reuters (@Reuters) October 23, 2023

Click here to find out why Islamabad High Court directs Imran Khan to approach the special court

Prosecutor Shah Khawar termed the plea as a “delaying tactic”. He requested the court to reject this plea and stated that today’s hearing was only for indictment.

Today’s special court hearing presided by Judge Abul Hasnaat

Judge Abul Hasnaat Zulqarnain presided over the hearing of the special court to hear the cases under the Official Secrets Act. He summoned government officials listed as witnesses in the case for Oct 27, 2023.

Judge Zulqarnain read out the charge sheet to Chairman PTI Imran Khan Khan in the court today. According to the charge sheet, Chairman PTI illegally kept the cipher as Prime Minister. He misused the secret document. The cipher was a highly secret document between Pakistan and the United States. He misused secret document in a meeting at a prohibited location.

Judge Abul Hasnat has read the charge sheet of Imran Khan@ImranKhanPTI #ImranKhanPTI pic.twitter.com/8gYPtzeQgd
— Capital TV (@CapitalTVLive) October 23, 2023

Pakistan Special Court indicted Imran Khan

PTI Chairman Imran Khan denied the charges in the court reportedly. He said it was a false, fabricated case designed to take political revenge. Furthermore, he asserted that he would prove his innocence.

Khan’s lawyer Usman Riaz Gul addressed the media outside the Adiala jail. He said although today was fixed for indictment, we requested to keep the process postponed till full statements of the witnesses.

He added that both Imran Khan and Shah Mehmood Qureshi had written that they would not be able to respond to the indictment charges until provided with all case documents.

However ignoring the request of Khan’s lawyer, the special court rejected the arguments of the legal team of Imran Khan and proceeded with the indictment process.