Imran, Qureshi declared guilty in cipher case

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has declared Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan and Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi guilty in the cipher case.

This was revealed in the investigation report submitted by the FIA to the Special Official Secrets Act court in Islamabad on Saturday.

The FIA submitted the challan in the cipher case against Imran and Shah Mahmood. The agency stated that the former prime minister and former foreign minister were found guilty in the matter and requested the court to conduct their trial and sentence them in the case.

The FIA also submitted a list of 28 witnesses to the court. The statements of 27 witnesses, including Additional Foreign Secretary Faisal Niaz Tirmizi, were also enclosed with the report. The names of former foreign secretaries Asad Majeed and Sohail Mehmood have also been added to the list of witnesses.

According to sources, former PTI secretary-general Asad Umar’s name has not been added to the list of accused. Meanwhile, Imran’s former principal secretary Azam Khan has been named as a “strong witness” in the case.

The FIA also attached Azam’s statements, recorded under sections 161 and 164, along with the challan, said the sources, adding that the PTI chief kept the cipher to himself and misused the state secret. The sources also said that Imran had a copy of the cipher but he did not return it.

Moreover, the FIA also attached the transcript of Imran and Shah Mahmood’s speech on March 27, the day when the former premier brandished a letter claiming it was a cipher from a foreign nation, which wanted his government to be removed from power.

On September 26, the special court extended the judicial remand of the PTI chairman and vice-chairman till October 10 in the cipher case.

Last month, the FIA booked the PTI chief and vice chief under the Official Secrets Act for allegedly misplacing and misusing the classified document for their vested political interests.

“Consequent upon the conclusion of the inquiry 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.

Subsequently, both the leaders were arrested in connection with the investigation into the case and a special court was established under the Official Secrets Act to try the accused.

The controversy first emerged on March 27, 2022, when Imran Khan less than a month before his ouster in April 2022, while addressing a public rally, waved a letter before the crowd, claiming that it was a cipher.

He did not reveal the contents of the letter nor did he mention the name of the nation it came from. But a few days later, he accused the United States of conspiring against him and alleged that Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Affairs Donald Lu had sought his removal.

Meanwhile, a PTI spokesman on Saturday rejected the FIA’s challan submitted to court in the cipher case against PTI Chairman Imran Khan and Vice-Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi, calling it meaningless and worthless like the bogus cipher case itself.

He reiterated the party’s stance seeking formation of an empowered high-level judicial commission to probe the cipher issue so as to bring the truth to the fore. He said: “It is a fact that the cipher is still present in the Foreign Office in its original state, which is proving the allegations leveled against the former prime minister are baseless.”

He explained that the federal cabinet declassified the paraphrased version of the cipher which the Foreign Office provided after which the Official Secrets Act could not be applied and the case died its own death, as the original cipher was coded and only the Foreign Office had access to it.