Imran Khan makes stunning revelations whereas grilling in lacking cypher case

Jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan admitted misplacing a confidential diplomatic cable as he was interrogated by Pakistan’s prime investigative company on the Attock Jail in a case filed underneath the Official Secrets Act for wrongful use of the categorised doc, in line with media reviews on Sunday.

Khan, 70, is at the moment serving a three-year jail time period after he was sentenced by a courtroom in a corruption case earlier this month.

The cable in query was the identical doc Khan had for lengthy talked about as proof of a US-backed conspiracy to take away him because the prime minister final 12 months.

Khan had waved a doc at a rally days earlier than his ouster as prime minister in April 2022, saying it was proof of international conspiracy.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman’s interrogation within the matter comes days after he was booked underneath the Official Secrets Act for making the content material of a confidential diplomatic cable from the nation’s embassy within the US public.

The counter-terrorism wing (CTW) of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Saturday visited the previous prime minister within the jail, media reviews stated.

FIA sources stated a six-member joint investigation crew, led by FIA Deputy Director Ayaz Khan, met Khan within the workplace of the Attock Jail’s deputy superintendent and interrogated him for over an hour, the Dawn newspaper reported.

WHAT IMRAN KHAN SAID DURING QUESTIONING

During interrogation, Khan admitted to shedding the cypher, saying he could not recall the place he saved it, The News newspaper reported.

Khan additionally denied that the paper he waved at a public gathering final 12 months, days earlier than the ouster of his authorities, as proof of the conspiracy was the diplomatic cable.

“The paper I gestured in the public were Cabinet meeting minutes and not cypher,” the paper quoted Khan as saying.

The investigation agency had registered the case against Khan and PTI vice chairman and former foreign minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, after ascertaining their deliberate involvement in misusing the cypher and its misplacement following a probe.

The FIR also stated that the role of the former prime minister’s principal secretary, Azam Khan, ex-planning minister Asad Umar, and other associates involved would be determined during the investigation.

Qureshi, a close aide of Khan, was arrested by police from his house here on August 19, and during Saturday’s interrogation, Khan was questioned about the former’s revelations.

IMRAN KHAN’S ALLEGATIONS AGAINST THE US

Citing the cypher, Khan has been alleging the US of hatching a conspiracy to topple his government. The US has time and again denied such allegations, terming them “categorically false”.

The purported cypher contained an account of a meeting between US State Department officials, including Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu and then Pakistani envoy Asad Majeed Khan.

The cricketer-turned-politician came under increased scrutiny following the publication of a purported copy of the secret cable by the US media outlet The Intercept, with many in the previous government led by Shehbaz Sharif pointing fingers at the PTI chief for being the source of the leak.

Former interior minister Rana Sanaullah has said that if Khan had indeed lost the copy of the cypher provided to him, it would constitute a crime under the Official Secrets Act.

Citing the cypher, The Intercept, in a report published earlier this month, said, “The US State Department inspired the Pakistani authorities in a March 7, 2022, assembly to take away Imran Khan as prime minister over his neutrality on the Russian invasion of Ukraine.”

The publication, however, also stated it made extensive efforts to authenticate the document, but “given the safety local weather in Pakistan, impartial affirmation from sources within the Pakistani authorities was not potential”.

The US State Department had stated it couldn’t confirm the authenticity of the doc.

The cypher case towards Khan grew to become severe after his principal secretary, Azam Khan, acknowledged earlier than a Justice of the Peace and the FIA that the previous premier had used the US cypher for his ‘political gains’ and to avert a no-confidence vote towards him final 12 months.

IMRAN KHAN JAILED FOR 3 YEARS

On August 5, Imran was arrested and despatched to Attock Jail after a trial courtroom discovered him responsible within the Toshakhana corruption case.

Additional Sessions Judge Humayun Dilawar additionally disqualified the PTI chief for 5 years, apparently ending his prospects for collaborating within the upcoming common elections, dates for which haven’t been mounted.

Dozens of circumstances had been launched towards Khan after his elimination from workplace final 12 months.

It is believed that he could also be arrested by the FIA within the cypher case if his sentence within the Toshakhana case is suspended.

Published On:

Aug 27, 2023