ISLAMABAD: Jailed former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan was denied an open court trial on Monday as ordered by a high court after the government submitted reports citing threats to his life, his lawyer said.
The court hearing the case later said Khan’s trial on the charge of leaking state secrets will be held in jail premises but will be open to media and the public, the lawyer said.
The Islamabad High Court had ruled last week that holding Khan’s trial inside jail premises on security concerns was illegal, and ordered it restarted in an open court.
Khan has denied the charges against him.
The 71-year-old former cricket star has been embroiled in a tangle of political and legal battles since he was ousted as prime minister. He has not been seen in public since he was jailed for three years in August for unlawfully selling state gifts while in office from 2018 to 2022.
Khan had been appearing in courts prior to his August arrest protected by his personal security guards. But he has also sought exemptions from personal appearances, often citing threats to his safety.
“Jail reports have been submitted citing that Imran Khan has life threats according to various intelligence and police reports,” said the lawyer, Naeem Panjutha, in a post on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
A special court has been conducting the trial in prison since Khan was indicted on the charges last month.
The charges against Khan relate to a classified cable sent to Islamabad by Pakistan’s ambassador in the United States last year, which Khan is accused of making public.
The graft conviction has put a five-year bar on Khan to contest elections. He denies any wrongdoing and has said all the charges against him, including the graft case and the leak of the cable, were cooked up at the behest of the military to block him from the Feb. 8 general election.
The military has dismissed Khan’s allegations.
The election is shaping as a fight between Khan’s party and that of another ousted former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif.
Both leaders had fallen out with the military, which has ruled directly or overseen civilian governments since Pakistan’s creation in 1947.
Pakistan’s Imran Khan denied court-ordered public trial — lawyer
https://arab.news/mmq7s
Pakistan’s Imran Khan denied court-ordered public trial — lawyer
- Open trial denied despite high court orders, government submits reports on threats to Khan’s life
- Court rules retrial in jail open to public and media, Khan in the past cited life threats to seek exemptions
Karachi-bound bus crashes in fog, killing five in eastern Pakistan
- Motorway closure forced the bus onto an alternate route, unfamiliar to the driver
- Pakistan weather office reports visibility as low as 30 meters in parts of Punjab
ISLAMABAD: At least five people were killed and around 28 injured early on Wednesday when a passenger bus traveling from Rawalpindi to Karachi plunged into a ravine near Dhok Pathan in eastern Pakistan, after the driver diverted from a closed motorway due to dense fog, police said.
Poor visibility during Pakistan’s winter months frequently makes long-distance travel hazardous, prompting authorities to shut motorways and major roads during severe fog to prevent accidents. However, traffic mishaps involving both light and heavy vehicles are not uncommon during such conditions, sometimes triggering multi-vehicle pile-ups.
“A passenger bus traveling from Rawalpindi to Karachi plunged into a ravine near Dhok Pathan, killing at least five people and injuring around 28 others,” Adeel Sarfraz, a senior police officer and station house officer in the area near Chakwal, told Arab News over the phone.
“The accident occurred at around 2 a.m.,” he added. “Since the motorway was closed due to dense fog, the driver diverted the bus onto the GT [Grand Trunk] Road. However, the driver was unfamiliar with the route, and poor visibility caused by the fog led to the accident.”
Winter fog is a recurring hazard across Pakistan’s plains, particularly in Punjab and upper Sindh, where conditions can deteriorate sharply during late night and early morning hours.
Data shared by the Pakistan Meteorological Department earlier in the day showed extremely low visibility across several districts, with levels dropping to 30 meters in Narowal and Sheikhupura, 40 meters in Gujranwala and 50 meters in Faisalabad, Sialkot Airport and Toba Tek Singh.
Levels of 100 meters were reported in cities including Okara, Rahim Yar Khan, Bahawalpur and Sargodha, while some southern Punjab districts recorded relatively better conditions at around 200 meters.
The weather office warned that moderate to dense fog is likely to persist over much of Punjab, upper Sindh and plain areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, advising travelers — especially those driving on highways and motorways — to exercise caution during nighttime and early morning hours.
Road accidents are also common in Pakistan due to poor infrastructure, speeding and limited enforcement of safety regulations, with fog-related incidents adding to seasonal risks during winter.
