Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has been arrested again in the so-called 'cypher case', a day after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) suspended his three-year jail sentence in an alleged corruption matter, or the 'toshakhana case'.
Khan's lawyer Salman Safdar told reporters on Wednesday that Khan's judicial custody has been extended by two weeks, which means that the chief of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) would remain in prison at least till 13 September.
Safdar said that Khan was arrested by the country's Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in the cypher case this month while he was already serving his prison sentence at Attock Jail in the toshakhana case.
A trial court had convicted Khan on 5 August for underreporting the value of gifts he had received from foreign dignitaries while in power.
The lawyer claimed that not even Khan knew that he had been detained in the cipher case for the last 15 days.
He highlighted that the ex-leader faces two charges--hiding the cypher and misusing the diplomatic cable.
"But an original copy of the cypher, which is a diplomatic cable, is kept in the custody of the Foreign Office. We even have the statement of Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah who has written on social media that the government is in custody of the cypher. So, what is the legal case all about," asked Safdar.
According to Pakistani media reports, Khan's judicial remand was extended by a "special court" set-up under the Official Secrets Act (OSA).
Safdar said that the PTI would appeal the court's decision in the Supreme Court.
What is the Cypher Case?
Lu reportedly told Khan that all will be forgiven if the no-confidence motion against the leader then succeeds in Parliament.
The conversation, which was transmitted to Islamabad through a cypher, happened barely two weeks after Khan paid a visit to Moscow and held a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In April, Khan was ousted from power in a no-confidence motion introduced in the National Assembly by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).
Khan has since claimed that Pakistan's then military chief General Qamar Bajwa, PML(N) and the US had colluded to oust him from power as the western powers were unhappy with his "independent" foreign policy stance.
Khan is facing trial in over 100 cases since he was ousted from power.
The former PM has said that all the charges against him are "politically-motivated".