{"id":4548,"date":"2022-09-08T14:23:00","date_gmt":"2022-09-08T14:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/asiaposts.com\/former-pakistan-prime-minister-imran-khan-to-be-indicted-on-contempt-charge\/"},"modified":"2022-09-08T14:23:00","modified_gmt":"2022-09-08T14:23:00","slug":"former-pakistan-prime-minister-imran-khan-to-be-indicted-on-contempt-charge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asiaposts.com\/former-pakistan-prime-minister-imran-khan-to-be-indicted-on-contempt-charge\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan to be indicted on contempt charge"},"content":{"rendered":"
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ISLAMABAD:\u00a0Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan will be formally indicted on a contempt of court charge later this month after judges on Thursday (Sep 8) rejected his explanation and “regrets” for comments he made about a magistrate, state media reported.<\/span><\/p>\n The ruling is the latest twist in months of political wrangling that started even before he was ousted in April by a vote of no confidence in the national assembly.<\/p>\n State media reported the Islamabad High Court ruled Khan would be indicted on Sep 22 for criticising the magistrate responsible for keeping a party leader in police custody, after also claiming the official had been tortured.<\/p>\n “Imran Khan’s response was not satisfactory,” state media quoted the chief justice of the court as saying.<\/p>\n The ruling does not necessarily mean Khan will face trial as his lawyers will likely appeal against the decision – a frequent occurrence in the Pakistan legal system.<\/p>\n Earlier Khan had expressed regret for his comments, but stopped short of a full apology.<\/p>\n “The respondent takes this opportunity to express his deep regrets over his unintentional utterances during the course of his speech,” he said in formal reply to the court – a copy of which was obtained by AFP.<\/p>\n “The respondent beseeches that the said Islamic principles of… forgiveness would also be followed in this case,” it said.<\/p>\n Khan is also due in the separate Anti-Terrorism Court on Friday when his bail is due to expire in a different case regarding the same comments he made about the judge.<\/p>\n Despite his ousting, Khan retains widespread support, staging mass rallies railing against Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government and scoring successes in recent provincial assembly by-elections.<\/p>\n Pakistan has a history of those in power using the police and courts to stifle political opponents, and Sharif also has several pending cases against him from his time in opposition.<\/p>\n The political turmoil comes as Pakistan deals with devastating floods caused by record monsoon rains that have left a third of the country under water and affected more than 33 million people.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n [ad_2]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [ad_1] ISLAMABAD:\u00a0Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan will be formally indicted on a contempt of court charge later this month after judges on Thursday (Sep 8) rejected his explanation and “regrets” for comments he made about a magistrate, state media reported. The ruling is the latest twist in months of political wrangling that started even […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4549,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40,6],"tags":[179,163,162],"yoast_head":"\n