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A special court in Islamabad, recently established to hear cases filed under the Official Secrets Act, extended the physical remand of PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi for another three days in the cipher case.
Qureshi was arrested by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) last week in connection with a first information report (FIR) registered on Aug 15 under the Official Secrets Act against former prime minister Imran Khan and the former foreign minister.
The FIR alleged that Imran, Qureshi and their other associates were involved in the communication of information contained in a secret classified document (cipher telegram received from Parep Washington dated March 7, 2022 to Secretary Ministry of Foreign Affairs) to unauthorised persons by “twisting facts to achieve their ulterior motives and personal gains in a manner prejudicial to the interests of state security”.
The case was registered after an American news outlet The Intercept recently published what was claimed to be the contents diplomatic cable which had reportedly gone missing from Imran’s possession.
Imran, who was interrogated by the FIA, in Attock jail where he is incarcerated after his conviction in the Toshakhana case, has persistently claimed he was ousted from office last year under a “US conspiracy”. The PTI alleges that cipher contained the threat from the United States to oust Imran from power. Imran had since walked back on that narrative.
On Sunday, a local magistrate in Islamabad had remanded Qureshi in FIA custody for a day.
The following day, the special court had handed over the PTI leader to the FIA on four-day physical remand.
The court had declared the proceedings as in-camera and directed the prosecution to produce Qureshi on August 25 (today).
In line with the court’s directives, Qureshi was presented before the special court earlier today. His lawyer, Advocate Shoaib Shaheen, told reporters after the hearing concluded that the court had extended Qureshi’s physical remand by another three days.
Shaheen termed the cipher case a “political case” and insisted that the diplomatic cable was with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He said that the PTI cabinet had decided to declassify the cipher and also decided to put it before the National Security Committee (NSC), where it was decided to send a demarche to the US envoy.
He said that a second meeting of the NSC, this time chaired by ex-premier Shehbaz Sharif, had reaffirmed the decisions taken during the previous meeting. He also noted that Shehbaz, on the floor of the National Assembly, said that an inquiry would be launched into the matter.
“But a probe was not carried out nor was any action taken,” he lamented. He said that Shehbaz and the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) parties were the beneficiaries of this “interference”.
“Those involved in the case have been the complainant in the case … and those who defended the country’s interests, they are [being labelled] criminals,” the lawyer said.