A court in Pakistan on Monday indicted former Prime Minister Imran Khan for leaking the content of a classified diplomatic cable amid mounting legal challenges for the jailed leader ahead of national elections, his party said.

Judge Mohamed Zulqarnain said Mr Khan and his former foreign minister must stand trial for revealing a state secret at a public rally.

The special tribunal would now record statements of the witnesses later this week, the court announced after the pre-trial hearing inside Mr Khan’s prison cell.

Both politicians pleaded not guilty.

A conviction would mean up to two years in jail and disqualification from politics.

Mr Khan, who was once supported by the country’s powerful military, seems unlikely to be able to seek another term after he fell out of favour with the generals.

These generals had ruled the Islamic republic with nuclear arms for decades and now fell out with them.

Elections are due in Pakistan early next year.

The 70-year-old former sports star faced a flurry of charges since his removal as premier through a parliamentary vote of no confidence last year.

Weeks before his ouster in April 2022, Mr Khan claimed the U.S. hatched a conspiracy with his opponents to remove him because he got close to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

He waved a paper at a public rally in Islamabad claiming that this cable sent by the Pakistani ambassador to the U.S. was proof.

Mr Khan’s party said that lawyers would file a petition in a higher court to overturn the decision to start the trial. 

(dpa/NAN)