Pakistan’s Imran Khan trial in jail declared illegal, lawyer says

The trial in jail of Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan has been declared illegal by a court, his lawyer has said.

On Tuesday, lawyer Naeem Panjutha posted on social media that a court in Islamabad ruled against an in-jail trial for Khan, indicted last month on charges of revealing state secrets after he was ousted from office in 2022.The 70-year-old former cricket star was expelled from office by a no-confidence vote in parliament in April 2022, an effort Khan accused of being pushed along by the United States.

Relations between Washington and Khan had become strained by issues such as the war in Ukraine, but the US has denied any involvement in his removal from office.

In October, Khan was indicted on security charges that accused him of leaking a diplomatic cable between Washington and Islamabad that Khan says offers proof of collusion against him.Since his ouster last year, Khan has faced a slew of legal challenges, with the charges against him ranging from contempt of court to “terrorism” and blasphemy.