PTI terms verdict flawed, illegal, vows to challenge decision given by special court n IHC dismisses Imran’s petitions against his jail trial in gifts, Al-Qadir Trust cases.
RAWALPINDI, ISLAMABAD - Former prime minister Imran Khan and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi were handed down 10-year in jail in the missing secret cipher case yesterday. The decision was given by the special court established under the Official Secrets Act.
The short verbal verdict was announced soon after recording the statements of the two accused under Section 342 during the hearing, as the court held a swift hearing of the matter despite the delaying tactics used by the defence. The court, presided by Judge Abul Hasanat Zulqarnain, announced the verdict during the hearing held within the premises of Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail. Before sentencing Imran, the judge asked the former premier one last time where the cipher was.
“I have mentioned in my statement that the Prime Minister House’s security was not my responsibility. I don’t have the cipher,” he stated.
The cipher case pertains to a diplomatic document that the Federal Investigation Agency’s charge sheet alleges was never returned by Imran as prime minister. The PTI has long held that the document contained a threat from the United States to oust Imran as prime minister.
Earlier, questionnaires were prepared to record their statements as the court resumed the hearing of the cipher case.
During the hearing, a total of 25 witnesses were presented before the court. The prominent names among those cross-examined by the two sets of lawyers include former foreign secretary Sohail Mehmood, former principal secretary to the PM Azam Khan, former Interior Secretary Yusuf Naseem Khokhar, interior secretary Aftab Akbar Durrani and former ambassador to the United States Asad Majeed.
Earlier in the day, the cipher case proceedings were again disrupted as the two accused got angry and started shouting. As the situation worsened, the special court judge opted for a temporary break after which the hearing started again. Qureshi objected to the state-appointed defence counsel during cross-examination, expressing difficulty attending court in the current situation. PTI lawyer Salman Safdar noted that the Islamabad High Court had deemed the trial invalid, yet the case persisted in this court for the third time. The embattled has vehemently rejected the special court’s judgment awarding 10 years’ sentence each to former prime minister Imran Khan and ex-foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in the cipher case.
The party of former prime minister Imran Khan termed the court’s decision flawed and illegal which had no ground to stand on.
PTI further said that it would challenge the decision in the Islamabad High Court (IHC). It added that the sentence awarded to both the leaders would finally land in the dustbin at the appeal stage. In his strongly-worded reaction, PTI Central Information Secretary Raoof Hasan said that the mockery and murder of justice had been committed to target Khan and Qureshi for political revenge. “We will pursue all constitutional and legal means to secure justice,” he vowed. He said that PTI would move the high court against the biased and flawed verdict without any loss of time.