A former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, alongside his deputy was on Monday indicted by a court in an official secrets acts case, his party has disclosed.
The party described the pronouncement as another blow for the jailed former cricket star ahead of a general election expected in January, Reuters reports.
The charge is said to be related to a classified cable sent to Islamabad by Pakistan’s ambassador in Washington early last year, which Khan is accused of making public.
The detained Khan however denied that the document which was spilled to the media was leaked from him but other sources.
A special court indicted Khan and his party’s deputy leader, former Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Quershi, his party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) told media, adding that the case would begin on Friday.
The party said it would challenge the indictment.
Khan said the cable was proof of a United States’ conspiracy to push the Pakistani military to oust him in a parliamentary vote in 2022 because he had visited Moscow just before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
This has however been denied by both the United States and the Pakistani military.
Khan was forced from office after losing the 2022 no-confidence vote and he then led protests against the government to push for an early general election, and against the military, which he accused of trying to sideline him.
The military, which has ruled directly for significant periods and wielded influence over civilian governments, denied that.
