The opposition leader was transferred to a prison near the capital after his judicial remand in the ‘crypto’ case was extended until October 10.
Islamabad, Pakistan – Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has been transferred to a jail near the capital, Islamabad, after a court extended his custody for two more weeks in a state secrets case related to his dismissal in 2022.
Khan, 70, was transferred to Adiala jail in the city of Rawalpindi on Tuesday night after spending more than three weeks in Attock jail, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) away, where he was sent following his conviction in a corruption case last month.
Videos on social media showed Khan’s supporters flanking the road and throwing flower petals as a large police convoy took him to Rawalpindi.
Although the Islamabad High Court in August overturned his convictionKhan remains in custody as authorities investigate the leak of a secret diplomatic cable, called a “cipher,” which he claims prove your accusation that the United States was behind his removal from power.
American and Pakistani authorities reject the accusation.
Khan’s lawyers had petitioned the Islamabad High Court to transfer him to another jail, alleging that he was being denied facilities permitted under prison rules in Attock, one of the country’s largest jails.
Members of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party had said his life was threatened in the attack jail.
On Tuesday, the court directed prison authorities to shift him to Adiala and ordered that he be provided with better facilities as a former chief minister.
“He (Khan) has never complained about the conditions in which he was kept in Attock prison and said that his focus is solely on the fight for real freedom of the people of Pakistan,” he told Al Jazeera on Wednesday. Khan’s lawyer, Intazar Hussain Panjutha, a day later. meet the opposition leader in jail.
Since Khan was removed from power in April last year, he has been demanding early electionswhich the government has rejected.
After his conviction in August, he was declared ineligible to participate in the election by the electoral commission, which announced a general election in January.