After hearing the matter known as cipher case Tuesday a special court awarded 10 years sentence to former prime minister and chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan and his ally Shah Mehmood Qureshi under the charges to leak state secrets.
Reacting to the verdict, the PTI diehards termed the sentence as ‘political victimization’ whereas representatives of other political parties were of the opinion the judgment was result of judicial process where prosecution remained successful to prove its story. The sentence, handed down following a trial held inside the jail where Khan has been detained for much of the time since his arrest in August last year, comes as the country heads to the polls on February 08.
The PTI’ leaders outside form the jail are planning to invoke the Superior Court jurisdiction to challenge the sentence of 10 years each to former prime minister Imran Khan and PTI vice-president Shah Mahmood Qureshi inside prison in the cypher case. The case, popularly called the cipher case relates to an alleged diplomatic correspondence between Washington and Islamabad that Khan says was proof that his ouster as PM was part of a US conspiracy to remove him. Washington has repeatedly denied Khan’s accusations.
“This judgment is a clear manifestation of political victimization against Imran Khan as he was not provided a fair opportunity to defend himself,” PTI lawyer and spokesperson, Shoaib Shaheen told TLTP. He said constitutional and legal guarantees given to the accused were violated in the case saying the prosecution was in a hurry to convict Khan ahead of national elections slated for February 08. “As due legal process was not followed in the case, therefore this conviction has no legal value,” Shaheen said. He said even Khan’s lawyers were not allowed to represent him in the case.
A special court established to hear the case held proceedings at Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail where the former prime minister Khan has been incarcerated since August last year. Shaheen further expressed correspondence was declassified by the then federal cabinet and ‘some of the cabinet members were also privy to its content. “Imran Khan never disclosed contents of the cipher to the public, the cipher was never in the public domain,” he said. Shaheen was of the view that former prime minister had become the ‘will of the public’, claiming his opponents could not defeat him in the upcoming polls.
Meanwhile, representatives of Pakistan’s major political parties said the decision was a part of the country’s legal process. They said the case against Khan for leaking state secrets was a sensitive issue that could have been handled carefully by the former premier. “This judgment against Imran Khan is part of the legal process and he has legal options available to file an appeal against it,” Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) representative Sharmila Farooqi told foreign media. Farooqi said the PPP believed everyone was entitled to the due legal process. “We don’t believe in persecution of any political leader,” she said. “But this is a matter of a national document and he [Khan] used it for political gimmicks.”
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senator Afnan Mushahid said the sentence handed to Khan was in accordance with the Official Secrets Act. “Imran Khan was an apolitical person and did not become the prime minister through a political process, therefore he mismanaged everything including democracy and institutions,” Mushahid told Arab News. “He leaked the cipher’s contents to the public as he wanted to get political mileage through it.”
Jamiat Ulelma-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) representative, Aslam Ghauri, said Khan’s sentence was part of the country’s judicial process. He said the former prime minister has the right to appeal against the verdict in the high court. “We are not happy over his sentence, but this is what happens when you try to play with matters of national interest,” Ghauri told Arab News.
Jamat-e-Islami (JI) chief Siraj-ul-Haq, in a statement to the media, regretted the verdict, saying that the case’s hearings should have been made public. He demanded that an independent and impartial commission probe the case. “The American interference in the country’s affairs has been going on for the last seventy-six years and this has happened for the first time that American interference has been in discussion in our official circles,” Haq said.
Arab News reported that Khan and most senior leaders of his party have been rejected as candidates for the February 08 vote in what they say is a campaign by the military-led establishment to thwart their participation. However, it is strong conviction of the army it has nothing to do with political affairs.
