Four witnesses cross-examined in cipher case

ISLAMABAD: The Special Court established under the Official Secrets Act was informed on Wednesday that the matter of downloading the cipher was confidential and could not be disclosed.

Judge Abual Hasnat Muhammad Zulqarnain heard the cipher case against former prime minister Imran Khan and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in the Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi.

Defence lawyers cross-examined four more witnesses, Cipher Assistant Muhammad Nauman and Foreign Ministry Cryptographic Centre in-charge Shamon Qaiser, Iqra Ashraf and Ministry of Foreign Affairs Deputy Director Imran Sajid.

Before starting the cross-examination, Qureshi requested the court to give him time for consultation with his lawyers, saying that they were not allowed to meet the lawyers, so how could they brief them about the cross-examination. The former foreign minister said that they are being locked up in a cell when the hearing of the case was over. “We are brought here only when you come to the court,” he told the judge.

PTI founder Imran Khan said: “Shah Sahib and I know what happened, so we should be given time to consult the lawyers.” The judge said that they should have consulted (the lawyers) before the court timing. Imran replied that they were not being brought there prior to the hearing.

The judge said: “We have been informed that you do not come to the courtroom until your family arrives.” The PTI founder said they would come to the court only when their lawyers were present.

The judge said that they had summoned the witnesses for cross-examination. He allowed Imran and Qureshi to consult their lawyers before the cross-examination.

After the interval, Cipher Assistant Nauman was cross-examined by the defence lawyers. Nauman said that the cipher was a grade-2 telegram. “I did not write it in the statement given to the FIA that I downloaded the cipher message. The matter of downloading the cipher is confidential and can’t be disclosed.

“I converted the cipher to plain text and entered the number and date. My security clearance was done in 2015 and later on being posted as a cipher assistant. The security clearance was not done on my return from India and posting in the Cryptography Section,” he added.

After Nauman, the defence lawyers cross-examined Foreign Office Cryptography Center in-charge Shimon Qaiser. The witness, Shimon Qaiser, said that he was in-charge of the cipher crypto centre. A defence lawyer asked him whether the Intelligence Bureau (IB) was informed when the cipher copy was not returned as per the SOPs. The witness said the IB was not informed.

The lawyer then asked whether the senior security officer was informed that the cipher copy was not returned. The witness said that the security officer was informed, and he asked to send the message in writing which was sent. The FIA was also informed about the cipher copy not being returned.

The defence lawyer asked him whether he was bound under the law to inform the chief security officer and IB about the missing cipher copy. The witness replied in the affirmative.

The court adjourned the hearing of cipher case till Thursday (today). More witnesses would be cross-examined during today’s hearing.