<\/p>\n
PTI lawyer Babar Awan said on Monday that former prime minister Imran Khan wants an \u201cex-army general and a US envoy\u201d to be summoned by the special court hearing the cipher case.<\/p>\n
According to Awan, Imran said this during the case proceedings at Adiala Jail, where he is currently incarcerated. \u201cImran Khan has said that the US embassy representative should be called and he also took the name of a former general,\u201d he said during a media talk.<\/p>\n
While the PTI lawyer did not name the former military officer, media persons who attended the cipher case hearing today said Imran mentioned ex-army chief retired General Qamar Javed Bajwa.<\/p>\n
The cipher case pertains to a diplomatic document<\/a> that the Federal Investigation Agency\u2019s charge sheet alleges was never returned<\/a> by Imran. The PTI has long held<\/a> that the document contained a threat from the United States to oust Imran as prime minister.<\/p>\n Imran and ex-foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who is also behind bars, were first indicted<\/a> in the case on Oct 23. Both had pleaded not guilty. The trial was being held at Adiala Jail and four witnesses had alre\u00ada\u00addy recorded<\/a> their statements, with the fifth being cross-examined when an Islamabad High Court division bench termed the government\u2019s notification for a jail trial \u201cerroneous\u201d and scrap\u00adped<\/a> the entire proceedings.<\/p>\n As a result of the judgement, the special court started a fresh trial. Last week, Special Court Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqar\u00adnain ruled that the trial proceedings would continue at the Adiala Jail but in an open court<\/a>.<\/p>\n However, on Saturday, jail authorities prevented<\/a> media people from entering the jail, with many local and international journalists outside when the hearing began. After the hearing ended, it came to light that three reporters from different TV channels were allowed to witness the proceedings, but that too after the hearing had ended and the prosecutors had already left the courtroom.<\/p>\n During the hearing, Qureshi had urged the special court to summon President Dr Arif Alvi so he could testify before the court whether he had assented to changes in the Official Secrets Act, 1923.<\/p>\n In August, President Alvi had denied approving changes<\/a> to the Secrets Act \u2014 under which the cipher trial is being held \u2014 and the Pakistan Army Act while the law ministry had rebuked his statement and asked him to \u201ctake responsibility for his own actions\u201d.<\/p>\n Today, the special court ruled that Imran and Qureshi would be indicted in the case again on December 12.<\/p>\n Judge Zulqarnain resumed hearing the case at the Adiala Jail. Family members and lawyers of the incarcerated PTI leaders were in attendance along with special prosecutor Zulfikar Abbas Naqvi and Rizwan Abbasi.<\/p>\n Six members of the media were allowed to attend the proceedings.<\/p>\n At the outset, the judge expressed displeasure at PTI lawyer Usman Gul for not arriving in court on time. \u201cThe next hearing should begin on time and witnesses be produced in court,\u201d he directed, adding that both the sides should mutually decide a time.<\/p>\n Judge Zulqarnain then instructed the parties to check if all the documents in the case record were present so that the same could be distributed.<\/p>\n Here, the PTI lawyer inquired about the law under which the case challan was being distributed, saying that the proceedings could not proceed until the law was explained. \u201cA clear notification should have been issued by the law ministry first,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n The PTI counsel also lamented that international media was not allowed to attend the hearing.<\/p>\n For his part, the FIA prosecutor said the law ministry\u2019s notification was clear and the case hearing was being conducted in accordance with that.<\/p>\n \u201cI have to follow the law,\u201d the special court judge said. He highlighted that the public and media were given access to the court under Article 352 of the Code of Criminal Procedure<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cAll these [media persons] are here under Article 10A of the Constitution,\u201d the defence lawyer contended, but the judge insisted that the same was the result of the implementation of Article 352.<\/p>\n At one point during the hearing, Imran\u2019s lawyer Gul argued that legal requirements had not been fulfilled in the notification issued for the jail trial. Meanwhile, PTI\u2019s Babar Awan said the proceedings could not continue until a new notification was issued.<\/p>\n However, Judge Zulqarnain said the IHC division bench had declared that the notification pertaining to special court judge\u2019s appointment was correct. He further stated that these arguments would be written in today\u2019s order of the court.<\/p>\n Subsequently, copies of the case record were distributed in the court.<\/p>\nThe hearing<\/h2>\n