Imran Khan & Shah Mahmood Qureshi guilty in cipher case: FIA

Pakistan's top investigation agency on Saturday declared former prime minister Imran Khan and ex-foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi guilty in a case related to the alleged disclosure of state secrets, popularly known as the cipher case.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) submitted the charge sheet against Khan, the chairman of the Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party and his deputy Qureshi, both currently detained in jail on judicial remand, to a special court established under the Official Secrets Act, the Pakistan Observer website reported.

Khan, 70, was arrested last month after a case was filed against him for allegedly violating the Official Secrets Act by disclosing a secret diplomatic cable (cipher) sent by the country's embassy in Washington last year in March.

The FIA has requested the court to start the trial of the PTI leaders and sentence them according to the law, it said.

Qureshi, 75, is the vice chairman of PTI. Former general secretary of PTI Asad Umar has not been named in the FIA’s list of accused, while former principal secretary Azam Khan has been presented as a strong witness of the FIA against Imran Khan, GeoTV, a prominent news channel, reported and added, the challan also carries Azam Khan’s statement recorded under sections 161 and 164.

The FIA has also attached the transcript of Khan and Qureshi’s speeches made on March 27.

The Pakistan Observer also reported that the FIA has submitted a list of 28 witnesses along with the charge sheet in the court. Names of foreign secretary Asad Majid, former foreign secretary Sohail Mahmood, and additional foreign secretary Faisal Niaz Tirmizi are included in the list of witnesses, it said.

Earlier on September 26, it was the third time that Khan was sent to jail on remand. His judicial remand was initially extended till September 13 and then again till September 26, along with Qureshi's.

On the same day, Khan was shifted to the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi from Attock prison, a day after the Islamabad High Court ordered authorities to relocate him to the high-security jail.

Incidentally, a joint investigation team on Thursday submitted charge sheets that informed an anti-terrorism court here that the jailed former prime minister and several other top leaders of his party were directly involved in orchestrating the unprecedented anti-government violence on May 9.

A large number of PTI activists had attacked military installations, police vehicles, and other public and private properties in Lahore, according to the cases registered with the police. The vandalism at the Lahore Corps Commander’s House (Jinnah House), Askari Tower, and the Shadman police station were some of the major incidents during the violence.