Former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, was denied an open court trial Tuesday following threats to his life. Due to these safety concerns, the planned open trial regarding Khan’s alleged actions of leaking state secrets did not go ahead.

Khan was indicted with leaking state secrets in late October alongside Vice Chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, a crime that could result in a death sentence. This indictment stemmed from an initial event following Khan’s removal as Prime Minister in 2022. At an opposition rally, Khan made a speech claiming he possessed a letter proving his removal was orchestrated by the US. The two PTI leaders have since been under investigation for the “use of official secret information and illegal retention of a cypher telegram with malafide intention.”

The original trial was intended to happen within the jail Khan and Qureshi were being held in. However, the Islamabad High Court declared this was illegal last week and instead ordered an open court trial. Set to start today, the trial was postponed due to safety concerns. His lawyer stated on social media that there were threats to Khan’s life. As a result of this, the trial is to restart on Friday in the jail but will be open to the media and the public.

Imran Khan has been the subject of many legal battles since his removal as Prime Minister. In this most recent development, his political party, PTI, condemned the “false and frivolous cases” and “the various baseless and absurd allegations” against their political party leader.