Former prime minister Imran Khan and his then foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi were indicted by a special court hearing the cypher case in Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail.
The case originated from Imran’s public display of a paper during a rally in Islamabad on March 27, 2022, claiming it as evidence of an “international conspiracy” before a vote of no-confidence led to his government’s ouster.
Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain of the special court, formed to hear the case related to the Official Secrets Act, heard the case against Imran and Qureshi.
Both PTI leaders pleaded not guilty during the hearing and said the indictment was ‘fabricated’. Imran and Qureshi also stated that the indictment was ‘illegal’ and they would challenge it in a court of law.
Prosecutor Rizwan Abbasi informed the court that the statements of the witnesses will be recorded on Thursday. The court then issued a notice to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and summoned the three official witnesses of the case.
The hearing was then adjourned till tomorrow (December 14).
Read IHC declares jail trial in cypher case illegal
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) initiated its probe into the so-called “cypher-gate” on July 19, 2023, after the previous coalition government announced an official inquiry against Imran and his close associates for violating the OSA.
Imran was arrested on August 5, following his conviction in the Toshakhana case by a local court of Islamabad. Later, he was also arrested in the cypher case on August 29.
As per the challan papers, both Imran and Qureshi, the former foreign minister, were charged under sections 5 and 9 of the OSA. These provisions entail the possibility of the death penalty or life imprisonment.
Imran reacts
Reacting to the indictment, former prime minister Imran Khan, in breach of the court’s decorum, mockingly asked the special court judge to also include in his charge-sheet “the crime of exposing the foreign and Pakistani establishment”.
The former chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) again accused former army chief General (retd) Bajwa and US Ambassador Donald Lu of ‘hatching a conspiracy’ against him, asked “how is it that we lose government and also get declared criminals?”
Judge Zulqarnain snubbed the ex-premier and asked him to not react in this manner. “Don’t do this. Do not speak like this. This is the court. Your tone is not appropriate. Listen to me first,” the judge asserted.
