Pakistan: PTI chief Imran Khan, vice chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi charged in cypher case

Islamabad [Pakistan], October 23 (ANI): Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan and the party’s vice chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi have been charged in the cypher case, Geo News reported.

Geo News is a Pakistani news channel.

Khan, Qureshi have been indicted by The Official Secrets Act court in Pakistan.

The PTI chief was arrested in August after a case was filed against him for allegedly violating the Official Secrets Act by disclosing a secret diplomatic cable (cypher) sent by the country’s embassy in Washington in March last year.

Earlier on Tuesday, the special court of Pakistan adjourned the hearing of the cypher case against Khan, Qureshi and postponed the indictment till October 23, reported The Express Tribune.

At the briefing, the defence lawyer raised an objection to holding Qureshi’s trial in prison, according to The Express Tribune.

Following this, the prosecutor said that a notification had been issued by the federal government.

Adding to this, the defence further argued that given that the notification was issued on Tuesday, all prior proceedings were illegal as were the case documents, reported The Express Tribune.

After the case documents were provided to the defence team, the hearing was adjourned.

Later, the judge said that the indictment process would be initiated at the next hearing.

The cypher controversy first emerged on March 27, 2022, when Imran Khan, just days before his ouster in April 2022, brandished a letter, claiming that it was a cypher from a foreign nation, which mentioned that his government should be ousted from power, according to The News International report.

He did not reveal the contents of the letter and the name of the nation that had sent it. However, a few days later Imran Khan named the United States and said that US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Affairs Donald Lu had sought his removal.

The PTI chairman had claimed that he was reading contents from the cypher and said that “all will be forgiven for Pakistan Imran Khan is removed from power”.