Cipher case: Imran, Qureshi to be indicted on 17th

RAWALPINDI/ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Monday protested against the treatment meted out to him in Adiala Jail during the hearing of the cipher case and asked he be treated like any other prisoner, reports Geo News.

Talking to media after attending a special court hearing of the cipher case in the Adiala Jail, PTI chairman’s lawyer Salman Safdar said: “The chairman protested that he was provided with a room where it was difficult to live, it is also difficult to move or walk in the cell.” Saiman said he felt that the PTI chief’s blood pressure was high during the hearing. “The PTI chief strongly protested during the hearing in the court,” he added.

Moreover, the lawyer asked that the trial of the case be conducted in an open court so the public could be aware of it. He added that it was not ‘right’ to hold the trial in jail. Meanwhile, the PTI chief’s other lawyer, Sher Afzal Marwat, disclosed that the PTI chief and his deputy Shah Mahmood Qureshi were presented in a ‘cage type’ place for the hearing. Not even terrorists are presented in such a manner, he remarked.

During the hearing, the special court announced that the PTI chairman and vice chairman would be indicted in the cipher case on October 17.

The PTI chief and his deputy were presented before Special Court Judge Zulqarnain in the court set up in Adiala Jail where both leaders are locked up.

The date for the indictment was set after the copies of the challan, submitted to the court by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), were provided to the counsels of the accused. After setting the date of the indictment, the government witnesses were also issued notices by the court.

Following this, the hearing was adjourned. During the last hearing, the special court had adjourned the case till without any proceedings.

The PTI lawyers had then raised objections to the hearing of the case in Adiala Jail and implored the court to put off the hearing until Islamabad High Court (IHC) decides on its plea challenging the in-camera trial of their clients.

The PTI legal team had also refused to receive a copy of the FIA challan (charge sheet).But the same day, the IHC ruled that the hearing on the PTI chief’s bail plea would take place in an open court.

The FIA, in its challan, stated that the former prime minister and the PTI vice-chairman were found guilty in the matter and requested the court to conduct their trial and sentence them in the case.

According to the sources, former PTI secretary-general Asad Umar’s name was not added to the list of accused. Meanwhile, Imran Khan’s former principal secretary Azam Khan was also named as a ‘strong witness’ in the case. The FIA had 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 Khan and Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s speech on March 27 — the day when the former premier brandished a letter claiming it was a cipher from a foreign nation, that wanted his government to be removed from power. The FIA had also submitted a list of 28 witnesses to the court with the challan after recording their statements under Section 161.

Sources further revealed that the names of former foreign secretaries Asad Majeed, Sohail Mehmood and the then additional foreign secretary, Faisal Niaz Tirmizi, have also been added to the list of witnesses.

In August of this year, the FIA booked the PTI chief and the party’s vice chairman under the Official Secrets Act for allegedly misplacing and misusing the classified document for their vested political interests.