In cipher case, special court allows in-camera trial for Imran and Qureshi

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has accepted the petition filed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan and Vice-Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi seeking an in-camera hearing in the cipher case submitted to a special court established under the Official Secrets Act 2023 on Thursday.

The reserved verdict was delivered by Judge Abul Hasnat Zulqarnain. In the court’s ruling, it was stated that the family members would be permitted entry to the courtroom during the hearing.

In cipher case, special court allows in-camera trial for Imran and Qureshi, The FIA filed a petition under Section 14(a) seeking an in-camera hearing for Khan and Qureshi. Earlier yesterday, the former prime minister and the vice-chairman of the PTI were indicted by the special court for the second time.

On October 23, both politicians were indicted in the case and pleaded not guilty to their involvement in the alleged misuse of diplomatic cable for political purposes.

In the wake of Khan and Qureshi’s indictment, the regular trial of the cipher case was held in Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail.

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) declared both leaders’ jail trials null and void last month while allowing their appeals within the court.

Nevertheless, the federal cabinet approved the summary of holding the jail trial of both politicians once again, resulting in their indictment on Wednesday.

Raja Rizwan Abbasi, FIA’s Special Prosecutor, stated to the media outside the jail that the witnesses would be brought before the court.

According to him, the FIA has filed a petition seeking an in-camera hearing under section 14 of the Secrets Act.

According to Abbasi, the indictment process was completed yesterday, and the accused do not need to sign the charge sheet.

International courts will be approached by Khan’s family

Aleema Khan, the sister of the PTI founder, told journalists outside the Adiala prison that her family was being instructed to pursue this matter in international courts.

According to Khan, her family will approach the international courts and do everything possible to comply with the law. “The founder of PTI will be saved from being hanged.”

A case will also be filed against former United States Ambassador Donald Lu, since he was involved in the ouster of a government along with General Bajwa and Hussain Haqqani, according to the PTI founder’s sister.

“Salman, Qasim, and their families will file a case in the UK,” she added, stating that Khan had also agreed to file a case in the UK with his family.

She stated that the family will continue to pursue the case in Pakistan as well.

Her brother’s case is similar to that of former prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, who was certain that he would be hanged.

“The PTI founder is also being placed on the same path as Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in terms of the speed with which his case is being handled,” she stated.

In today’s hearing

As part of the hearing, Imran’s sisters and Bushra Bibi were also present.

A lawyer for Qureshi, Ali Bukhari, stated that they had challenged the notification of the jail trial in the high court, following which the notification was nullified and an open trial was ordered.

He stated that he learned of the indictment through the media.

Asked Judge Zulqarnain, “Where were you during the hearing? The charges were framed before everyone.”

FIA’s plea for in-camera proceedings was then reserved by the court.

Hearing on the cipher case has been adjourned until tomorrow (Friday).

Cryptgate – what is it?

The controversy first emerged on March 27, 2022, when Khan – less than a month before his ouster in April 2022 – waved a letter before the crowd while addressing a public rally, claiming it was a cipher from a foreign nation that conspired with his political rivals to overthrow the PTI government.

Neither the contents of the letter nor the nation from which it originated were revealed by him. Several days later, he accused the United States of conspiring against him and alleged that he had been removed by Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Affairs Donald Lu.

Majeed’s meeting with Lu was the subject of the cipher.

As he claimed to have read the contents of the cipher, the former prime minister stated that “all will be forgiven for Pakistan if Imran Khan is removed from office”.

In cipher case, special court allows in-camera trial for Imran and Qureshi, In response, the National Security Committee (NSC) took up the matter on March 31 and issued a “strong demarche” to the US for its “blatant interference in the internal affairs of Pakistan”.

In the aftermath of his removal, Shehbaz Sharif convened a meeting of the National Security Council, which concluded that the cable did not show evidence of a foreign conspiracy.

According to the two audio leaks that swept the internet following these events, the former prime minister, then-federal minister Asad Umar, and then-principal secretary Azam discussed how to exploit the US cipher.

A committee was constituted by the federal cabinet on September 30 to investigate the contents of the audio leaks.

Following the Cabinet’s approval in October, the FIA was entrusted with the investigation of the former prime minister.

As soon as the FIA was assigned to investigate the matter, Khan, Umar, and other leaders of the party were summoned, but Khan challenged the summons in court and obtained a stay order.

A stay order against the FIA’s call-up notice to Khan was recalled by the Lahore High Court (LHC) in July this year.