Pakistan: Islamabad High Court favours Imran Khan cypher trial in jail

The PTI chairman had claimed that he was reading contents from the cypher and said that "all will be forgiven for Pakistan Imran Khan is removed from power".

Islamabad: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) in Pakistan has disposed of the petition of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan seeking the hearing of a cypher case inside the Jail premises, directed the leader to approach the trial court on the matter, The Express Tribune reported.

The Express Tribune reported that the IHC announced the reserved verdict on the PTI’s chief petition, Chief Justice Aamer Farooq said that keeping in view the security issue, the trial inside the jail was in favour of Imran. He added that Imran had expressed concerns about his security several times.

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The cypher controversy first emerged on March 27, 2022, when Imran Khan, just days before his ouster in April 2022, brandished a letter, claiming that it was a cypher from a foreign nation, which mentioned that his government should be ousted from power, according to The News International report.

He did not reveal the contents of the letter and the name of the nation that had sent it.

However, a few days later Imran Khan named the United States and said that US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Affairs Donald Lu had sought his removal.

The PTI chairman had claimed that he was reading contents from the cypher and said that “all will be forgiven for Pakistan Imran Khan is removed from power”.

Earlier, on October 3, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chief and former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan filed a petition with the Islamabad High Court to challenge the suspension of his interim bails in the cases involving Toshakhana and 190 million pounds, ARY News reported.

The accountability court cancelled the former prime minister’s temporary bail in the Toshakhana and 190 million pound cases when he failed to appear on August 10.

Due to his Toshakhana case conviction, the PTI leader has been imprisoned since August 5. The Islamabad High Court rejected the appeal of his conviction.

According to ARY News, the brief order was issued by a divisional bench led by Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Aamir Farooq and composed of Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri.

In its brief ruling, the IHC ordered the PTI chairman’s release on bail from Attock Jail and made note that it would explain the grounds for the suspension of the sentence in the full ruling later, ARY News reported.

Notably, the PTI leader has asked the Islamabad High Court to overturn the accountability court’s judgement against him.

Imran Khan, the leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), is presently imprisoned at Adiala Jail.

Earlier, an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Islamabad denied his bail requests in three cases because he was unable to appear in court. After the former prime minister failed to appear in court, ATC Judge Abul Hassan issued the reserved decisions in three instances and denied his bail requests.