Former Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan gestures as he addresses members of the media at his residence in Lahore, Pakistan on May 18, 2023.
Mohsin Raza | Reuters
Khan and his supporters have denied the allegations as politically motivated.
“There can be no more ridiculous case than Cipher. What is more ridiculous than Pakistan jailing its Prime Minister and Foreign Minister for exposing a foreign conspiracy!!,” PTI, Pakistan's largest political party, wrote in X.
The cipher refers to the case that sentenced both Khan and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi to a decade in prison, and centered on secret diplomatic communications between the US and Pakistan's ambassador in Islamabad that were allegedly leaked while Khan was prime minister. Minister.
During a rally in March 2022, Khan displayed a document on stage claiming to be evidence of a foreign conspiracy against him and accused a certain country of being adamant about removing him from power. Although not explicitly naming the US, he later criticized Washington.
A month later, he was removed from power in a vote of no confidence by opposition lawmakers accusing him of corruption and unconstitutional actions. The charges were upheld by the country's Supreme Court.
Khan's detractors said at the time that the document was meaningless, but on Tuesday Khan was accused by the government of leaking classified material and damaging diplomatic relations over the incident.
Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan (R) addresses his supporters during an anti-government march towards the capital Islamabad demanding early elections in Gujranwala on November 1, 2022.
Arif Ali | AFP | Good pictures
The former prime minister and his supporters said his ouster in 2022 was a plot orchestrated by current Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the US, the latter of which has a long and complicated relationship with the Pakistani government. Khan's supporters say tensions began when the former leader began openly criticizing Pakistan's powerful military, and Washington also wants to remove Khan, a longtime critic of the United States.
Sharif and the Biden administration deny the allegations.
Khan later appeared to make a U-turn on his accusations against the US, saying he wanted to mend his country's relationship with the world's top superpower if re-elected. Many political analysts saw him as the favorite for the election.
“As far as I'm concerned, it's over, it's behind me. The Pakistan I want to lead should have good relations with everyone, especially the United States,” he said in a statement. November 2022 Interview.
But he was still critical of Islamabad's relationship with Washington: “Our relationship with America is a master-servant relationship … but for that I blame my own governments more than America.”
Khan is hugely popular across the nation of 230 million. After his arrest in 2023, the PTI and Khan's supporters called for a shutdown of Pakistan, roadblocks and mass protests demanding his release.
However, since then, a number of protesters and politicians have been arrested, hampering public demonstrations.
“The message is clear,” a freelance writer in Islamabad, who did not want to be named for fear of reprisal, told CNBC. “Back off or go to jail.”
