By Imtiaz Hussain Abro.
Imran Khan, Shah Mahmood handed 10-year sentence in cipher case.
In the cipher case, Pakistan’s ex-prime minister, Imran Khan, and his second-in-command, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, have been sentenced to 10 years in prison by a special court. The court, presided over by Judge Abu Alhasnaat Zulqurnain, found them guilty of leaking state secrets, specifically retaining and communicating a classified diplomatic cable from Pakistan’s ambassador to the US. The verdict was announced in Adiala Jail.
During the hearing, Imran Khan’s sisters and Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s children were present at the jail. Although they were scheduled to record statements under section 342 of the criminal procedure code, the court unexpectedly delivered the verdict instead.
In earlier proceedings, more than a dozen witnesses were examined by the state defense counsel, with only four witnesses presented by the defense’s own lawyers. Last week, the FIA prosecutor urged the court to restrict the defense counsel’s right of cross-examination, claiming that the defense was using delaying tactics to prolong the trial.
Imran Khan consistently denied leaking state secrets, asserting that the document provided evidence of a plot by political rivals, with assistance from the US administration, to remove him as the Pakistani PM. Both the Pakistani government and Washington rejected these allegations.
The impact of this decision is significant as it coincides with the upcoming general elections scheduled for February 8, 2024. Imran Khan, aged 71, faces more than 150 cases related to riots, blasphemy, graft, and other serious offenses.
The cipher case originated in August 2023 when an FIR was filed against PTI founder Imran Khan by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) under Section 5 of the Official Secrets Act 1923. Imran Khan, during a public gathering in Islamabad on March 27, 2022, claimed that a letter he waved was evidence of an “international conspiracy” supported by the United States to overthrow his government. Following these claims, the FIA initiated an investigation, accusing Khan of making a confidential diplomatic cable public. It was later revealed that Khan had lost the copy of the cipher, written by Pakistan’s ambassador to the US.
Azam Khan, a close aide of the PTI chairman, testified against Imran Khan, accusing him of promoting a false narrative about the US regime’s cypher controversy. Investigators alleged that Khan used the cipher to divert public attention towards foreign involvement in the opposition’s no-confidence motion.
