A PAKISTANI court today charged Imran Khan with revealing official secrets.

The dramatic move by the courts means the former cricket star turned politician could now face a possible death sentence and will likely be unable to run in parliamentary elections in January.

Mr Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi, a close aide and the deputy leader of Mr Khan’s opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, will go on trial this week at a high-security prison in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.

The charge of revealing state secrets carries a sentence ranging from life in prison to the death penalty, according to Umair Niazi, one of Mr Khan’s defence lawyers. 

Mr Niazi, however, said he was confident Mr Khan and Mr Qureshi would be acquitted as they had done “nothing wrong.”

The trial starts on Friday and both Khan and Qureshi have denied the charges against them. 

The hearings will take place before a special court behind closed doors at the Adiyala Prison, where Mr Khan is being held. 

Mr Khan’s lawyers have also objected to the closed-door trial.

The case relates to a confidential communication cited by Mr Khan during a speech at a rally after he was ousted from power in a no-confidence vote in parliament in 2022. 

The document — dubbed Cipher — was apparently diplomatic correspondence between the Pakistani ambassador to Washington and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad.

Mr Khan claimed the letter was proof that his removal from power was a conspiracy between the United States, the military and the Pakistan government. 

Washington and Pakistani officials have denied the claim.

Mr Khan is facing more than 150 cases, including charges ranging from contempt of court to terrorism and inciting violence, and was given a three-year sentence on corruption charges in early August. 

Subsequently, an Islamabad High Court suspended that sentence but he was promptly re-arrested in the Cipher case.