Judicial remand of Imran, Qureshi in cipher case extended till Sept 26

• Court asks FIA to submit challan on September 26. 
• Qureshi says he never betrayed his country. 
• Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain conducts hearing. 

ATTOCK: A special court established under the Official Secrets Act extended Wednesday Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan and party's Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi's judicial remand till September 26 in the cipher case. 

Khan has been imprisoned in jail since his conviction in the Toshakhana case on August 5 for failing to properly declare gifts he received while in office.

While the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had overturned a lower court's decision to jail him for three years with a Rs100,000 fine — a judgment that kept him from contesting upcoming elections, he remains behind bars due to his arrest in the cipher case.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) officially arrested the former prime minister and the former foreign minister in the cipher case last month after booking them under the Official Secrets Act.

During the hearing today, Judge Zulqarnain directed the FIA to submit a challan on September 26 in the cipher case, said the sources.

Qureshi was taken into custody from his residence in Islamabad in the same case on August 19 while Khan was arrested in the cipher case while he was serving the sentence in Attock jail.

“Consequent upon the conclusion of the enquiry No. 111/2023 dated 05.10.2022, registered in the CTW, FIA Islamabad, it transpired that former prime minister namely Imran Ahmad Khan Niazi, former foreign minister namely Shah Mahmood Qureshi and their other associates are involved in communications of information contained in the secret classified document (Cipher Telegram received from Parep. Washington dated 7th March, 2022 to Secretary Ministry of Foreign Affairs) to the unauthorised person (i.e. public at large) by twisting the facts to achieve their ulterior motives and personal gains in a manner prejudicial to the interests of state security,” read first information report (FIR) registered against the PTI leaders.

The Law Ministry had established the special court under the Official Secrets Act to conduct the hearing on the cipher case and anti-terrorism court (ATC) Judge Zulqarnain was given an additional charge to hear the matter.

A day earlier. the IHC reserved its verdict on Khan's petition challenging the Law Ministry's notification to hold his trial in Attock jail citing security concerns.

‘Imran Khan is irreplaceable’

Speaking to the media person outside the court, Qureshi said his party had never betrayed the country and never will do so in the future.

"I am sure that I have never betrayed my country and if I have been a traitor, then I should be hanged," he added.

"I have always defended institutions as a foreign minister."

Qureshi asserted that no one can replace Imran Khan as PTI chief, saying that there is no ambiguity about it.

“There is only one party chairman and there isn't any ambiguity surrounding this matter,” he remarked.

Qureshi further maintained that Pakistan was suffering from economic and constitutional crisis and demanded transparent elections in the country.

Denying his involvement in the May 9 riots, the senior PTI leader said he was taking care of his ailing wife at the time.

Speaking about the Adiala jail conditions, Qureshi said he was not allowed to walk outside like other prisoners.

Cable gate

The controversy first emerged on March 27, 2022, when Khan — just days before his ouster in April 2022 — brandished a letter, claiming that it was a cipher from a foreign nation, which mentioned that his government should be removed from power.

He did not reveal the contents of the letter nor mention the name of the nation that had sent it. But a few days later, he named the United States and said that Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Affairs Donald Lu had sought his removal.

The cipher was about former Pakistan ambassador to the US Asad Majeed's meeting with Lu.

The former prime minister, claiming that he was reading contents from the cipher, said that "all will be forgiven for Pakistan if Imran Khan is removed from power".

Then on March 31, the National Security Committee (NSC) took up the matter and decided to issue a "strong demarche" to the country for its "blatant interference in the internal affairs of Pakistan".

Later, after his removal, then-prime minister Shehbaz Sharif convened a meeting of the NSC, which came to the conclusion that it had found no evidence of a foreign conspiracy in the cipher.

The cipher case against the former premier became serious after his principal secretary Azam Khan stated before a magistrate as well as the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) that the former PM had used the US cipher for his 'political gains' and to avert a vote of no-confidence against him.

The former bureaucrat, in his confession, said when he provided the ex-premier with the cipher, he was "euphoric" and termed the language a "US blunder". The former prime minister, according to Azam, then said that the cable could be used for "creating a narrative against establishment and opposition".

Azam said the US cipher was used in political gatherings by the PTI chairman, despite his advice to him to avoid such acts. He mentioned that the former prime minister also told him that the cipher could be used to divert the public's attention towards "foreign involvement" in the opposition's no-confidence motion.