ISLAMABAD — Pakistan‘s top court on Wednesday allowed military courts to resume the trials of more than 100 supporters of former Prime Minister Imran Khan on charges of attacking military installations during violent demonstrations that broke out following Khan‘s arrest in May.
The latest order by the Supreme Court came less than two months after five judges on the same court stopped the trial of 103 civilians who were arrested as part of a crackdown on Khan’s celebration, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.
The violence subsided solely after Khan was launched on orders of Pakistan’s Supreme Court.
Khan, 71, is at the moment serving three sentences at a high-security jail within the garrison metropolis of Rawalpindi. He was eliminated as prime minister in April 2022 following a vote of no confidence in Parliament.
Though Khan can also be accused of inciting individuals to violence, he isn’t going through army trial.
According to the prosecution, Khan was indicted by a particular court docket on expenses of unveiling official secrets and techniques on Wednesday, however his lawyer Salman Safdar instructed reporters that his indictment was delayed after the court docket adjourned the case till Thursday.
It was not instantly clear what triggered confusion amongst Khan‘s lawyers, as the prosecutor Zulfiqar Naqvi told reporters that Khan entered a not guilty plea when charges were read out during the court hearing at Adiyala prison.
The case is related to Khan’s speech at a rally after his ouster in 2022, when he held up a confidential diplomatic letter, claiming it was proof that his ouster was a U.S. conspiracy, allegedly executed by the army and the federal government in Pakistan. Washington and Pakistani officers have denied the declare.
The doc – dubbed Cipher – was apparently diplomatic correspondence between the Pakistani ambassador to Washington and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad.
