Cipher case: Imran, Qureshi indicted by special court

A special court indicted Imran Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi in the cipher case on Monday, with both politicans pleading not guilty.

The hearing began in Adiala jail early on Monday with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s lawyers filing a new petition against a possible indictment.

However, the court indicted the former prime minister and foreign minsiter and summoned witnesses at the next hearing on October 27.

Judge Abu Alhasnaat Zulqurnain arrived at the jail along with Federal Investigation Agency Prosecutor Shah Khawar for the hearing.

The indictment had been scheduled for the previous hearing but could not be carried through since copies of the challan had not been signed by the two politicians.

The case is registered under the Official Secrets Act and accuses Khan of divulging the contents of a classified cipher written by Pakistan’s ambassador in Washington.

According to sources, FIA’s challan accuses Khan violated the law by keeping the cipher with him instead of returning him. A copy of the cipher has allegedly been ‘lost’.

The FIA reportedly submitted a list of 28 witnesses along with the challan. It also attached 161 statement from 27 of these witnesses.

Imran Khan has been in jail since August 5, when he was arrested minutes after being declared guilty of corrupt practices in the Toshakhana case.

Although he managed to get his jail sentence suspended on August 29, he could not be freed as he had already been arrested in the cipher case from jail.