Pakistan court orders jailed Imran Khan to appear in public trial

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ISLAMABAD – A Pakistani court on Thursday (Nov 23) ordered authorities to produce former Prime Minister Imran Khan for trial on Nov 28 on charges of leaking state secrets, his lawyer said, in what would be his first public appearance since he was jailed in August.

The former cricket star has been embroiled in a tangle of political and legal battles since he was ousted as prime minister in a vote on no-confidence in 2022, which he denounced as unfair.

"The court has ordered that Imran Khan be produced on Nov 28," Khan's lawyer, Naeem Panjutha, said in a post on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

"We now have to see that this order is implemented."

The court cited procedures, without elaborating, in stipulating the Nov 28 date for Khan's appearance. A spokesperson for the law ministry, which will decide if Khan is to appear, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The 71-year-old was jailed on Aug 5 for three years for unlawfully selling state gifts during his tenure as prime minister from 2018 to 2022.

He denied wrongdoing and has dismissed all of the various charges brought against him, including graft and the leak of a state secret, as cooked up at the behest of the military to block him from a Feb 8 general election.

Khan's state secret trial was being held in prison after authorities cited security risks but the Islamabad High Court on Tuesday declared the prison trial illegal, and ordered that it be re-started, which it did again on Thursday in a public court.

Khan's legal woes threaten to overshadow the election campaign and both he and his party can be expected to take advantage of a court appearance to reiterate their condemnation of what they say is his unfair treatment.

The election is shaping as a fight between Khan's party, even though his conviction prevents him from standing, and that of another ousted former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif.

The military, which has ruled directly or overseen civilian governments since Pakistan's creation in 1947, denies any involvement in Khan's troubles.

Source: Reuters

巴基斯坦法院命令被监禁的伊姆兰·汗出庭受审

伊斯兰堡——周四（11 月 23 日），巴基斯坦一家法院命令当局于 11 月 28 日将前总理伊姆兰·汗以泄露国家机密的罪名送审，他的律师称，这将是他自 8 月入狱以来首次公开露面。。

这位前板球明星自 2022 年因不信任投票而被罢免总理以来，一直卷入一系列政治和法律斗争，他谴责这次投票不公平。

“法院已下令于 11 月 28 日将伊姆兰·汗出庭，”伊姆兰·汗的律师纳伊姆·潘朱塔 (Naeem Panjutha) 在社交媒体平台 X（以前称为 Twitter）上发帖称。

“我们现在必须看到这项命令得到执行。”

法院援引了程序，但未详细说明，规定了汗的出庭日期为 11 月 28 日。将决定汗是否出庭的司法部发言人没有立即回应置评请求。

这位71岁的老人于8月5日因在2018年至2022年担任总理期间非法出售国礼而被判入狱三年。

他否认有不当行为，并驳回了针对他提出的所有指控，包括贪污和泄露国家机密，这些指控是应军方的要求而炮制的，目的是阻止他参加 2 月 8 日的大选。

当局以安全风险为由，对汗的国家秘密审判在监狱中进行，但伊斯兰堡高等法院周二宣布监狱审判非法，并下令重新开始审判，周四在公共法庭再次这样做。

汗的法律困境可能给竞选活动蒙上阴影，预计他和他的政党都会利用出庭机会重申对他们所说的汗不公平待遇的谴责。