A special court established under Pakistan’s Official Secrets Act on Tuesday handed both former premier Imran Khan and ex-foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi 10 years in jail in the “cipher case”. However, sources close to Khan said to CNN-News18 that the verdict was decided in advance and part of the proceedings happened in the absence of the judge.
Imran Khan’s statement was recorded under section 342 of the Pakistan Penal Code where he explained everything clearly in sequence, they said.
He explained how the then Pakistan army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa used the then ambassador Husain Haqqani to tell the Americans that the Imran Khan government was going against the United States, said the sources, as well as all events about illegal arrests by spy agency ISIS and irregularities in the cipher case.
The case pertains to a diplomatic document that Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency’s charge sheet alleges was never returned by Imran. His party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has long held that the document contained a threat from the United States to oust Imran as prime minister.
The verdict comes nine days before the February 8 general elections in Pakistan.
The sources said there was no mention of the cipher case in court and Imran Khan also explained how the ISI used to meet Americans in embassies.
They added that after one hour of the statement being recorded, the judge suddenly went away and returned after 12 minutes. During this period, Imran’s statement was over, and then Shah Mehmood Qureshi came to record his statement, said the sources.
The judge asked Imran where the cipher was and the former PM said he was not aware.
The judge then abruptly started reading out the verdict, handing both Imran Khan and Shah Mehmood Qureshi 10-year jail terms and then left, said the sources.
According to them, the judge was followed by PTI supporters and members of the media but he took off without the statement of Shah Mehmood Qureshi, who gave it later.
No cross-examination of witnesses happened and this was done by an assistant of the prosecutors, they said.
The sources added that Imran was healthy, exercising, and had lost belly fat.
He asked everyone to vote against the establishment in next month’s elections, they said.
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