According to Pakistani media, Imran Khan, the founder of the PTI, and Shah Mahmood Qureshi received 10-year prison terms in the Cipher case. Imran Khan, the former prime minister of Pakistan, was found guilty of breaking the Official Secrets Act of the country by disclosing a diplomatic cable to the public while he was in office. As a result, the court sentenced him to ten years in prison. The order was issued on Tuesday by special court judge Abual Hasnat Muhammad Zulqarnain, according to a text message from Imran Khan’s attorney, Shoaib Shaheen. According to him, the same case resulted in a 10-year sentence for his former foreign minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi.
A higher court may hear an appeal by Imran Khan regarding the decision.
The case concerns claims that Imran Khan disclosed to the government in Islamabad the contents of a covert cable that the nation’s ambassador in Washington sent. Imran Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi, the former foreign minister, were both given 10-year sentences by a special court, according to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). It declared that the party would appeal the ruling and referred to it as a “sham case.” Pakistan supports Imran Khan and Shah Mehmood Qureshi for their support of Haqeeqi Azadi and the defense of Pakistan. As the PTI stated on X (formerly Twitter), “No such sham trial will alter what happened in March–April 2022, on the directives of Donald Lu.”
The PTI also urged people to cast ballots in the general elections scheduled for February 8th, saying that the Cypher case was a blatant mockery and disdain for the law. It further stated that, insha’Allah, Kaptaan and Vice Kaptaan will return shortly and that this sentence will be adjusted in the appeal stage.
In the cipher case, it is claimed that following his overthrow, Imran Khan waved a classified cable, a secret document, at a rally. The government and Imran Khan’s attorneys have not made the document available to the public, but it appears to be official correspondence between the Pakistani ambassador in Washington and the Islamabad ministry of foreign affairs. Imran Khan asserted during the speech that the document proved he was being threatened and that the Pakistani government and military were part of a US plot to remove him. Officials from Pakistan and the US have refuted the assertion.
The cipher trial was restarted by the special court last month at the Adiala district jail following the re-indictment of Imran Khan and Shan Mahmood Qureshi on December 13. In October, the case saw the initial indictment of the former prime minister and Qureshi, who was incarcerated. They had entered not-guilty pleas. The government’s notification of a jail trial was deemed “erroneous” by the Islamabad High Court, which halted the entire process.
According to the report, the government petitioned the Supreme Court to reverse the high court’s ruling, claiming that the HC had improperly considered all relevant circumstances. It argued that the IHC lacked the jurisdiction to declare void a special court established to hold the former premier’s cipher trial.
