{"id":35332,"date":"2023-12-14T10:14:28","date_gmt":"2023-12-14T10:14:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/special-court-allows-in-camera-trial-of-imran-qureshi-in-cipher-case\/"},"modified":"2023-12-14T10:14:28","modified_gmt":"2023-12-14T10:14:28","slug":"special-court-allows-in-camera-trial-of-imran-qureshi-in-cipher-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/special-court-allows-in-camera-trial-of-imran-qureshi-in-cipher-case\/","title":{"rendered":"Special court allows in-camera trial of Imran, Qureshi in cipher case"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\n<p>The special court on Thursday accepted the Federal Investigation Agency\u2019s plea seeking an in-camera trial of former prime minister Imran Khan and ex-foreign minister Shah Mahmood in the cipher case.<\/p>\n<p>It began the cipher trial afresh at the Adiala district jail after the pair were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1797694\/imran-khan-qureshi-indicted-in-cipher-case-again\">indicted<\/a> for a second time yesterday, according to reporters allowed to attend the hearing.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1769320\/leaked-cipher-hints-at-us-pressure-over-russia-visit\">cipher case<\/a> pertains to a diplomatic document that the FIA\u2019s charge sheet <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1712744\">alleges<\/a> was never returned by Imran. The PTI has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1682104\">long held<\/a> that the document contained a threat from the United States to oust Imran as prime minister.<\/p>\n<p>Imran and Qureshi were initially <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1783061\">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 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1787431\">recorded<\/a> their statements when the Islamabad High Court (IHC) termed the government\u2019s notification for a jail trial \u201cerroneous\u201d and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1791390\">scrap\u00adped<\/a> the entire proceedings.<\/p>\n<p>As a result of the judgment, the special court started fresh proceedings.  On Monday, the former premier had <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1797160\/imran-challenges-cipher-indictment-process\">challenged<\/a> the process of his indictment in the cipher case in the IHC, urging it to halt the proceedings till deciding on the petition.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media  sm:w-1\/2  w-full  media--right  media--embed  media--uneven\">\n<p>    <iframe class=\"nk-iframe\" onload=\"setInterval(()=&gt;{try{this.style.height=this.contentWindow.document.body.scrollHeight+'px';}catch{}}, 100)\" width=\"100%\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"height:400px;position:relative\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/card\/1779597\" sandbox=\"allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-popups allow-modals allow-forms\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>A day ago, the special court, established under the <a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"link--external\" href=\"https:\/\/pakistancode.gov.pk\/pdffiles\/administrator46c9a3c62acc16428e73999e7d30ba2a.pdf\">Official Secrets Act 1923<\/a>, had <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1797694\/imran-khan-qureshi-indicted-in-cipher-case-again\">indicted<\/a> Imran and Qureshi for a second time.<\/p>\n<p>However, the ex-premier\u2019s legal team disputed the impression, with Barrister Salman Safdar saying that the court did not indict the two PTI leaders as none of them had signed any document. But officials in the prosecution had told <em>Dawn<\/em> that since the judge had told the accused persons about the charges, the process of indictment had been completed.<\/p>\n<p>Separately, speaking to the media after the hearing yesterday, Imran\u2019s sister Aleema Khan lamented she was \u201cnot seeing justice being served\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are followed when we go out of our homes. We are told we will be put in jail. [But] we are not afraid,\u201d she had said.<\/p>\n<p>Noting that her brother \u201ccould be sentenced to death in this case\u201d as per the offence, Aleema claimed that US diplomat Donald Lu had sent the cipher to ex-army chief retired Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa.<\/p>\n<p>Today, the FIA urged Special Court Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqar\u00adnain to allow the trial to be held in-camera, which he accepted, despite ruling last month that the proceedings would continue at the Adiala Jail but in an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1793226\">open court<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The court said the next hearing would be heard in-camera, which it adjourned until tomorrow (Friday). It further ruled that family members of the suspects would be allowed to attend the hearing.<\/p>\n<h2><a id=\"open-trial-need-of-justice-qureshis-daughter\" href=\"#open-trial-need-of-justice-qureshis-daughter\" class=\"heading-permalink\" aria-hidden=\"true\" title=\"Permalink\"\/>Open trial \u2018need of justice\u2019: Qureshi\u2019s daughter<\/h2>\n<p>Speaking to the media after today\u2019s hearing, Qureshi\u2019s daughter Mehr Bano <a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"link--external\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PTIofficial\/status\/1735222737658888415\">asserted<\/a> that an open trial was the \u201crequirement of justice\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The PTI vice-chairman\u2019s counsel Barrister Taimur Malik told reporters that the charge sheet was \u201cthe same as the one the IHC dismissed\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Noting that \u201ctwo important personalities\u201d were in jail, the lawyer said the matter was now \u201cambiguous\u201d. Malik said he still hoped for justice from the courts, adding that the lawyers could consider challenging the proceedings of framing the charge.<\/p>\n<p>Lawyer Umair Niazi quoted Imran as saying that the ongoing deportation drive of undocumented immigrants was a violation of human rights.<\/p>\n<p>Niazi further said that the former premier rejected PML-N supremo <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1796469\">Nawaz Sharif\u2019s statements<\/a> on improving ties with neighbouring countries, including India, as \u201cwe cannot sacrifice Kashmir\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Prior to the hearing today, FIA Special Prosecutor Raja Rizwan Abbasi told reporters that the witnesses in the case will be produced before the court.<\/p>\n<p>He further said that the FIA has filed a petition seeking an in-camera hearing of the case under section 14 (exclusion of public from proceedings) of the Secrets Act.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf this matter was not secret, then there would not have been an FIR. How can a secret matter be made public?\u201d Abbasi asked.<\/p>\n<p>The prosecutor insisted that regardless of whether the suspects had signed the charge sheet or not, the charges had been framed.<\/p>\n<h2><a id=\"the-hearing\" href=\"#the-hearing\" class=\"heading-permalink\" aria-hidden=\"true\" title=\"Permalink\"\/>The hearing<\/h2>\n<p>During the hearing, both PTI leaders\u2019 counsels appeared before Judge Zulqarnain, along with the special prosecutor while Imran\u2019s sisters and wife Bushra Bibi were also present in the courtroom.<\/p>\n<p>Presenting his arguments in the plea seeking a confidential trial, Abbasi argued that the proceedings should be held in-camera under section 14 of the Secrets Act as the case had been filed under the same laws.<\/p>\n<p>The FIA prosecutor argued that section 14 dictated that a secret trial should be held considering the \u201ccontext and circumstances\u201d, adding that the situation of the cipher case required the same.<\/p>\n<p>Abbasi added that the FIA wanted \u201csecrecy to be kept in mind\u201d while recording the testimonies of the witnesses.<\/p>\n<p>Here, Qureshi\u2019s counsel Ali Bukhari argued that they had already challenged the notification for a jail trial and an in-camera hearing in the IHC.<\/p>\n<p>He recalled that the PTI lawyers came to know about the indictment through the media, at which the court asked where he was during the hearing yesterday as the \u201ccharges were framed in front of everyone\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Barrister Taimur Malik, another of Qureshi\u2019s lawyers, asserted that the special court \u201ccould not ignore the trial as per the IHC\u2019s directives.<\/p>\n<p>The court then reserved its verdict on the FIA\u2019s plea seeking in-camera proceedings.<\/p>\n<h2><a id=\"ihc-dismisses-plea-seeking-immediate-stay-on-trial\" href=\"#ihc-dismisses-plea-seeking-immediate-stay-on-trial\" class=\"heading-permalink\" aria-hidden=\"true\" title=\"Permalink\"\/>IHC dismisses plea seeking immediate stay on trial<\/h2>\n<p>Meanwhile, the IHC dismissed Imran\u2019s petition seeking an immediate stay order on the cipher trial, seeking reports from the respondents by Dec 20.<\/p>\n<p>Justice Miangul Hasan Aurangzeb presided over the hearing, observing the court would review the plea once the parties had submitted their reports.<\/p>\n<p>Sikander Zulqarnain Saleem, the petitioner\u2019s counsel, contended that the trial court judge did not have the notification for the jail trial being allowed when he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1794948\">fixed the date<\/a> for the PTI leaders\u2019 indictment.<\/p>\n<p>He said, \u201cOur stance is that when there was no notification for a jail trial in front of the judge, how could he pass an order after conducting a hearing?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The court inquired whether the government\u2019s notification for the jail trial was issued later, to which the lawyer replied that he was not aware of it.<\/p>\n<p>Saleem asserted that it was the government\u2019s duty to determine the venue of the hearing and not the judge\u2019s.<\/p>\n<p>Justice Aurangzeb then stated that it was the judge\u2019s authority to do so and that he could choose jail as the venue for trial but observed that it should be an open court.<\/p>\n<p>The counsel urged the court to issue a stay order immediately on the cipher trial, at which the IHC said it would decide the case after reviewing reports from the respondents. It then adjourned the hearing till Dec 20.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The special court on Thursday accepted the Federal Investigation Agency\u2019s plea seeking an in-camera trial of former prime minister Imran Khan and ex-foreign minister Shah Mahmood in the cipher case. It began the cipher trial afresh at the Adiala district jail after the pair were indicted for a second time yesterday, according to reporters allowed [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35333,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.dawn.com\/large\/2023\/12\/1412134420f0e07.jpg?r=124313","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-top-news"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35332"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35332\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}