Pakistan: Imran Khan will face trial in special court, says Interior Minister

Islamabad [Pakistan], July 20 (ANI): Slamming Imran Khan for “sacrificing national interest” in the ‘cypher conspiracy’ case, Pakistan Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said on Wednesday that the former Prime Minister will be facing trial in a ‘special court’, Geo News reported.

He further said that the confessional statement of Azam Khan, former principal secretary to the former prime minister, has exposed Imran Khan’s conspiracy narrative based on the diplomatic cypher.
“The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman [Imran Khan] tarnished the reputation of state institutions through cypher conspiracy. He should be punished for staging the drama,” Geo News quoted Sanaullah as saying at a press conference.

He further said that the cypher conspiracy made it clear that May 9 incident was the continuation of the same plot.

Sanaullah said the former PM’s confessional statement against Imran was a “charge sheet” against him.

“PTI chairman will be held accountable for this crime. This is a matter of national interest,” the interior minister added.

Sanaullah said a case will be registered against the PTI chief and “will be sent to a special court”, Geo News reported.

“If he [Imran Khan] can sacrifice the national interest for personal gains then he can do anything,” he added.

His remarks came shortly after the ex-principal secretary in a statement, termed the US cypher a “conspiracy” manipulated by Imran Khan “to create a narrative against the establishment and opposition,” Geo News reported.

The matter pertains to the claims made by the PTI Chairman on March 27, 2022.

Khan, during a gathering of PTI workers pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and waved it at the crowd, claiming that it was evidence of an “international conspiracy” being hatched to topple his government.

The US has time and again denied such allegations, terming them “categorically false”.

In response to the development, Imran Khan termed Azam an “honest man” and said he would not believe the statement until he heard the bureaucrat saying it himself.

The PTI Chairman said that he would share the “uncensored details” on the cypher drama controversy on Thursday.

“In their feverish attempts to implicate me in any case just to get me disqualified and jailed, this current assortment of incompetent crooks have again shot themselves in the foot. They have provided me with an opportunity to do a proper exposé of this whole Cypher drama,” the former PM tweeted.

He added, “Tomorrow I will share the uncensored details of how this conspiracy unfolded to overthrow a govt which had the best economic performance in the last 17 years and bring these money launderers and crooks into power who have run the country to the ground. I assure you it will be more gripping than any drama on TV”.

Notably, Sanaullah’s remarks came as an alleged confession of Azam, Imran’s principal secretary when he was prime minister, came to the fore on social media wherein he claimed that the narrative behind the cipher – which the PTI chief has for long presented as evidence of a “foreign conspiracy” to oust him from the top office – was fabricated.

According to reports circulating on mainstream and social media, the former bureaucrat has “recorded” a statement, terming the US cypher a “conspiracy” used by the deposed premier to “manipulate for creating a narrative against establishment and opposition,” as per Geo News.

The alleged confession, which is being attributed to Azam Khan, said when Imran saw the cipher, he was “euphoric,” called the language used in it a “bluder” of the US and that it could be “manipulated for creating a narrative against the establishment and opposition” and used to divert the public’s attention from the no-confidence motion he was facing as the then prime minister.