Pakistan’s military said Tuesday that the former head of the country’s main intelligence agency has been charged with multiple criminal offenses, including political interference, during ongoing court-martial proceedings.
The announcement was made four months after Faiz Hamid, a former lieutenant general, was taken into custody by military authorities to undergo an investigation and legal proceedings.
The military’s media wing reported that Hamid, who formerly led the Inter-Services Intelligence agency, or ISI, “has been formally arraigned on charges of engaging in political activities, violations of the Official Secrets Act … misuse of authority and government resources.” The charges carry a potential prison sentence of up to 14 years.
The statement noted the former ISI chief is also being investigated in connection with the May 2023 attacks on Pakistani military properties and installations, which officials blamed on supporters of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Hamid “is being afforded with all legal rights as per the law,” the military stated. It was not possible to contact the detainee for comment, as is the case with other suspects in military custody.
Hamid served as director general of the ISI from 2019 to 2021, when Khan was in power. In April 2022, the cricket star-turned-prime minister was ousted through an opposition vote of no-confidence in parliament.
Khan said his desire to retain Hamid as ISI chief for an extended period had strained his relations with then-military chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, eventually leading to the fall of his government.
The 72-year-old deposed Pakistani leader accused Bajwa of orchestrating his ouster, charges the former army chief rejected. Khan has been in jail since August 2023 and faces dozens of criminal charges he says are orchestrated by the military to keep him from returning to power. Army officials deny the charges.
The arrest and subsequent court-martial proceedings of an ISI chief or a high-profile officer are unprecedented in Pakistan, where the military has staged three coups against elected governments and ruled the country for more than three decades since it gained independence in 1947.
Khan and his predecessors assert that generals retain influence over government affairs even when not in power and orchestrate the removal of elected prime ministers who fall out with the military.
Maleeha Lodhi, a former Pakistani ambassador to Washington and the United Nations, echoed those claims in an article published in the Dawn newspaper on Monday. She suggested that the military’s role in civilian matters has increased since Khan’s removal.
“The past two years have seen a decisive shift in the civil-military power balance in the latter’s favor, with its role in governance even extending to economic policy,” Lodhi stated.
“This is unprecedented even by the country’s past record of the military’s sway over government affairs. … Pakistan’s democratic future and prospects of political stability are clouded by increasing autocratization,” she added.
In a nationally televised address to families of fallen soldiers just days before stepping down from office, Bajwa acknowledged that the military had been meddling in national politics for decades.
Addressing growing public criticism of the institution, the former Pakistani army chief said, “”I believe the major reason has been the military’s interference in politics for the past 70 years, which is unconstitutional.”
