RAWALPINDI: Former prime minister Imran Khan’s legal team objected to the conduct of his prison trial on charges of leaking state secrets shortly the resumption of the proceedings on Wednesday which it said violated the Islamabad High Court’s instructions to hold an open trial.
A special court established to hear the case – commonly known as the “cipher reference” – had been conducting the trial inside the Adiala prison in Rawalpindi for weeks without media or members of the public allowed, before the high court ruled the hearings illegal last month and ordered them restarted in an open court.
Khan had already been indicted in the case in October during the now annulled trial but the special court judge announced last week he would be indicted again during the last hearing a day earlier as part of the restarted proceedings.
The special court, however, adjourned the hearing until today without the ex-premier being indicted as was widely expected.
The former prime minister’s spokesperson on legal affairs, Naeem Haider Panjutha, said in a video message the cipher trial could not be described as an open trial. He noted the Islamabad High Court had objected to the way the cipher proceedings were taking place and ordered its resumption from the beginning for the same reason.
However, he pointed out the special court was carrying out the trial in the same manner by only letting its own people and chosen journalists to attend the proceedings even when they were made to sit so far away that they could barely hear anything.
“Is this just a drama that require people to be taken inside [the courtroom],” he asked. “What is the use of sending them in when they cannot even hear what is going on?”
“Can we call it an open trial,” he said. “Open trial means that the public, lawyers, family [of the accused] and journalists can get complete access to the proceedings. In any case, why is this trial being held in jail? If you cannot provide security to one person, how will you provide security to the nation?”
Despite the high court’s orders, only about five journalists were allowed inside on Tuesday while a dozen others waited outside the jail premises. No followers of Khan, arguably the most popular politician in Pakistan and the founder of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, had arrived at the scene, and there was scant police and security presence.
