Jailed ex-PM Imran Khan appears before Pakistan top court by videolink

The court appearance of the 71-year-old leader was not livestreamed on the court’s website or aired on news channels.

Islamabad, Pakistan – Pakistan’s jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan has made a virtual appearance before the Supreme Court through a videolink from prison in connection with a case regarding amendments to the country’s anticorruption law.

Thursday’s hearing was the first time Khan, imprisoned since August 2023 in several cases, made an appearance before the top court.

However, the court appearance of the 71-year-old leader was not livestreamed on the top court’s website or aired on the country’s news channels.

Al Jazeera reached out to Information Minister Attaullah Tarar for his comments on why the hearing was not broadcast on news channels or the Supreme Court website, but did not receive any response.

Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Party (PTI) accused Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa of collusion with the government for not allowing the hearing from being broadcast to the people.

“Our party believes that the chief justice of the country is in connivance with the security establishment and their aim is to hurt PTI in every possible manner,” the main opposition party’s Aamir Mughal told Al Jazeera. “Establishment” in Pakistan is a euphemism for its powerful army, which has directly ruled over the country for nearly three decades and enjoys immense political power.

Chairman Imran Khan’s picture from Adiala Jail pic.twitter.com/OQxVKHFrh3

— PTI (@PTIofficial) May 16, 2024

Shortly after Khan lost a no-confidence vote in parliament in April 2022, the government that succeeded him amended the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) 1999, clipping the powers of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB),