Pakistan ex-PM Imran Khan indicted in leaked documents case: prosecutor

 

Former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan, gestures as he speaks with Reuters during an interview, in Lahore, Pakistan 

Pakistan's jailed former prime minister Imran Khan was on Monday charged with leaking classified documents, a prosecutor said.

 

"He has been indicted today and the charge was openly read out," said Shah Khawar of Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency outside Adiala Jail where Khan is being held.

Former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan, gestures as he speaks with Reuters during an interview, in Lahore, Pakistan

The ex-cricketing superstar was jailed in August for three years over graft but when his sentence was later overturned, he was instead kept in custody on the far more serious charge of sharing state documents.

 

The case relates to a cable that Khan had touted as proof that he was ousted as part of a US conspiracy backed by the powerful military establishment, according to a report by the government's Federal Investigation Agency.

The United States and the Pakistan military have denied the claim.

The vice chairman of Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, a former foreign minister, has also been indicted over the case.

Lawyers for Khan say the case carries a maximum jail term of 14 years.