- Rules family members of both suspects would be allowed to attend hearing
- FIA requested court to allow cypher trial to be held in-camera
ISLAMABAD: The special court on Thursday accepted the Federal Investigation Agency’s plea seeking an in-camera trial of former prime minister Imran Khan and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood in the cypher case.
As proceedings began on Thursday, the FIA prosecutor urged Special Court Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain to allow the trial to be held in-camera, which he accepted, despite ruling last month that the proceedings would continue at the Adiala Jail but in an open court.
The court said the next hearing would be heard in-camera and adjourned the hearing until Friday (tomorrow). It further ruled that family members of the suspects would be allowed to attend the hearing.
The court began the cypher trial afresh at the Adiala district jail after indicting both the PTI leaders for a second time yesterday. The cypher case pertains to a diplomatic document that the FIA’s charge sheet alleges was never returned by Imran Khan when he was the chief executive of the country. The PTI has long held that the document contained a threat from the United States to oust Imran as prime minister.
Imran and Qureshi were initially indicted in the case on Oct 23. Both had pleaded not guilty. The trial was being held at Adiala Jail and four witnesses had already recorded their statements when the Islamabad High Court (IHC) termed the government’s notification for a jail trial “erroneous” and scrapped the entire proceedings.
As a result of the judgment, the special court started fresh proceedings. On Monday, the former premier had challenged the process of his indictment in the cipher case in the IHC, urging it to halt the proceedings till deciding on the petition.
A day ago, the special court, established under the Official Secrets Act 1923, had indicted Imran and Qureshi for a second time.
However, the ex-premier’s legal team disputed the impression, with Barrister Salman Safdar saying that the court did not indict the two PTI leaders as none of them had signed any document. But officials in the prosecution had told Dawn that since the judge had told the accused persons about the charges, the process of indictment had been completed.
Separately, speaking to the media after the hearing yesterday, Imran’s sister Aleema Khan lamented she was “not seeing justice being served”.
“We are followed when we go out of our homes. We are told we will be put in jail. [But] we are not afraid,” she had said.
Noting that her brother “could be sentenced to death in this case” as per the offence, Aleema claimed that US diplomat Donald Lu had sent the cipher to ex-army chief retired Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa.
Speaking to the media after today’s hearing, Qureshi’s daughter Mehr Bano asserted that an open trial was the “requirement of justice”. The PTI vice-chairman’s counsel Barrister Taimur Malik told reporters that the charge sheet was “the same as the one the IHC dismissed”.
Noting that “two important personalities” were in jail, the lawyer said the matter was now “ambiguous”. Malik said he still hoped for justice from the courts, adding that the lawyers could consider challenging the proceedings of framing the charge.
Lawyer Umair Niazi quoted Imran as saying that the ongoing deportation drive of undocumented immigrants was a violation of human rights.
Niazi further said that the former premier rejected PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif’s statements on improving ties with neighbouring countries, including India, as “we cannot sacrifice Kashmir”. Prior to the hearing today, FIA Special Prosecutor Raja Rizwan Abbasi told reporters that the witnesses in the case will be produced before the court.
He further said that the FIA has filed a petition seeking an in-camera hearing of the case under section 14 (exclusion of public from proceedings) of the Secrets Act. “If this matter was not secret, then there would not have been an FIR. How can a secret matter be made public?” Abbasi asked.
