Imran Khan to be indicted in cipher case on October 17

Imran Khan was arrested in August 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 in March last year

Lahore: Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan will be indicted in the cipher case on October 17, a court here announced as hearing in the case officially began on Monday. The hearing was presided over by special court Judge Abdul Hasnaat Zulqarnain. Prosecutor Zulfiqar Abbas Naqvi, Khan’s counsel Salman Safdar and his party leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s daughter and son were also present at the hearing at Adiala jail in Rawalpindi.

Khan, 71, was arrested in August 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 in March last year. During Monday’s hearing, copies of the chargesheet were distributed among the lawyers of Khan and his co-accused Qureshi, the former Foreign Minister. The PTI chief’s lawyers also met him briefly in the prison van, ‘The Express Tribune’ newspaper reported.

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Prosecutor Naqvi informed the court that all the necessary copies had been provided to the court. Later, the court issued directives for all government witnesses to be summoned along with the chargesheet on October 17, the report said. Previously, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had claimed that Khan was guilty of breaching the Official Secrets Act of 1923 and deserved to be punished as per the law. The charge sheet submitted by the FIA to a special court also accused Khan’s key ally Qureshi of facilitating the former Prime Minister.

The cipher case concerns a diplomatic cable, which reportedly went missing from Khan’s possession. Khan had repeatedly said before and after the no-confidence motion against him last year that the cipher pointed to a conspiracy to remove him from the Prime Minister’s office.