Imran Khan sentenced in cipher case to appease a foreign power: Lawyer

Jailed Imran Khan's lawyer points out loopholes in diplomatic cipher case, claiming conviction was to appease foreign power.

Jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s lawyer, while pointing out loopholes in a trial court’s verdict in the diplomatic cipher case, has said that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf founder and former Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi were sentenced in the case simply to appease a foreign power.

The Express Tribune on March 29 reported that it emerged during the hearing of appeals by the PTI leaders by a division bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on March 28.

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The bench, comprising Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, resumed hearing the appeals of the PTI leaders against their conviction under the Official Secrets Act, 1923, for misusing a diplomatic cipher to the detriment of national interests.

Just two weeks before the ouster of the PTI government in April 2022 through a vote of no-confidence, Khan had brandished a piece of paper—allegedly a copy of a diplomatic cipher—at a public rally in Islamabad, claiming it as proof of a conspiracy against his government by a foreign power.

During the last Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz-led government, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) registered a case against Khan and Qureshi for misusing the cipher copy.

The ex-prime minister, along with Qureshi, was handed down a sentence of 10 years each in the cipher case in January for publishing contents of a secret cable sent by the country's ambassador in Washington to the government in Islamabad.