{"id":30827,"date":"2023-12-02T20:26:06","date_gmt":"2023-12-02T20:26:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/qureshi-urges-special-court-to-summon-president-in-cypher-trial-the-express-tribune\/"},"modified":"2023-12-02T20:26:06","modified_gmt":"2023-12-02T20:26:06","slug":"qureshi-urges-special-court-to-summon-president-in-cypher-trial-the-express-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/qureshi-urges-special-court-to-summon-president-in-cypher-trial-the-express-tribune\/","title":{"rendered":"Qureshi urges special court to summon president in cypher trial | The Express Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\nRAWALPINDI:
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Former foreign minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) stalwart Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Saturday urged the special court conducting the cypher case trial to summon President Arif Alvi to testify regarding changes to the Official Secrets Act.<\/p>\n

The cypher case pertains to a document<\/a> waved by Imran, then the prime minister, at a public rally in March last year, terming it evidence of a foreign conspiracy behind the no-confidence motion he faced at that time. The motion was carried a few weeks later and Imran\u2019s government ended.<\/p>\n

As the special court, presided by\u00a0Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain, resumed hearing the cypher case within Adiala jail premises today, both\u00a0Imran Khan and Qureshi were present\u00a0along with their family members. Bushra Bibi, Imran\u2019s sisters, Qureshi\u2019s daughter Mehr Bano and son Zain were in attendance.<\/p>\n

During today’s proceedings, Qureshi questioned the legitimacy of the act they were being tried under and maintained that even the president\u00a0was oblivious to it.<\/p>\n

Questioning the ambiguity of the act, the former foreign minister asked the judge whether the trial was being conducted under the Official\u00a0Secret Acts 1923 or 2023.<\/p>\n

Requesting the court to summon the president to take an oath on whether he approved the bill, he requested: \u201cIf not Imran Khan\u2019s, at least conduct my trial outside the jail in the open court\u201d.<\/p>\n

To this, the court responded that both cases are interlinked and therefore, cannot be separated.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The former chairman of PTI informed the courtroom that as the prime minister, he had ordered an inquiry into this matter. \u201cPeople involved in this case are quite powerful and efforts are being made to save them\u201d, he claimed and added: \u201cI fear no one but, Allah\u201d.<\/p>\n

Imran also claimed that they were being ‘caged like goats’\u00a0while Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Supremo Nawaz Sharif was treated differently<\/p>\n

The court said that copies of the challan would be distributed to the accused at the next hearing.<\/p>\n

It should be noted that today, while PTI counsel was raising objections over the presence of the \u2018unknown persons\u2019, the judge asked them to maintain silence.<\/p>\n

The hearing was then adjourned till December 4.<\/p>\n

‘Journalists not allowed to attend’<\/strong><\/p>\n

Speaking to the media after the day’s proceedings, PTI lawyers claimed that Imran, while twice requesting the boycott of the trial, protested that the trial was not being conducted fairly. They also added that more than 50 journalists were not allowed to attend the proceedings and only three were allowed\u00a0allowed inside Adiala jail.<\/p>\n

The counsel further added that only 10 civilians were \u2018planted\u2019 to hear the trial. They contended that in no way was the hearing an \u2018open trial\u2019 and it was a violation of Islamabad High Court (IHC) orders.<\/p>\n

Read <\/strong>Open court trial in cipher case begins today<\/a><\/p>\n

At the previous hearing, the special court ordered that whoever wished to attend the hearing, including journalists, would not be stopped.<\/p>\n

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