Islamabad court grants one day remand of Shah Mahmood Qureshi in cipher case
ISLAMABAD, August 20 (SABAH): A sessions court in Islamabad granted the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) a day’s remand of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Vice Chairman Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Sunday in the cipher case.
Judicial Magistrate Ehtisham Alam Khan issued the orders, asking the body to produce him before the concerned court today (Monday).
Shah Mehmood Qureshi, who served as foreign minister under ex-prime minister Imran Khan and is the vice chairman of the PTI, was arrested in the capital Islamabad on Saturday evening.
Speaking with journalists before being sent on remand, Qureshi said no secret code of Pakistan has been compromised. He spoke about proving his responsibility and has “acted responsibly”.
“I have not shared any such document with any unrelated person,” he said, further insisting on always protecting Pakistan’s interests and never compromising on them.
The politico denied being part of any conspiracy and possessing any such intentions. “This is a politically motivated case.” Qureshi reiterated that his conscience is clear and he has always done the right thing.
“Sections 5 and 9 of the Official Secrets Act do not apply to me. I do not see the justification for this custody,” he added.
The PTI politician said he answered all the questions when he was summoned and provided a written statement as well.
He also spoke about his lawyers giving their arguments as well. Mahmood said he expected the magistrate to fulfill the requirements of justice.
“There is no justification for this arrest,” Qureshi said, speaking about “fully” cooperating with the FIA personnel.
Imran Khan — ousted via a parliamentary vote in April last year — had alleged on March 27, 2022, that Washington orchestrated a plan to remove him from office — and brandished the cipher at a public rally to back his claims. The US has time and again denied such allegations, terming them “categorically false”.
Qureshi time and again has reiterated that the US cipher was reality, backing the party chief’s claims that the US engineered his ouster from power by supporting the opposition’s no-confidence motion in April last year.
The cipher case against the former premier became serious after his principal secretary Azam Khan stated before a magistrate as well as the FIA that the former PM had used the US cipher for his “political gains” and to avert a vote of no-confidence against him.
Meanwhile according to a private TV channel, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Asad Umar has been arrested from Islamabad in the cipher case, as the authorities ramp up efforts to resolve the pressing matter.
Asad Umar’s arrest comes a day after senior party leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi and PTI Chairman Imran Khan were arrested in connection with an investigation.
Asad Umar has been a close aide of the PTI chief and formerly held the post of the party’s general secretary. However, following his arrest during the May 9 riots, in which PTI workers attacked government and military installations, he stepped down from his party positions.
“Given the current situation […] after May 9, it is not personally possible for me to continue performing my party leadership duties,” the former federal minister said.
“I am resigning as the secretary general of PTI and as the core committee member. One of the reasons why is […] I am outspoken and I cannot issue personal statements if I hold an office.”
The controversy first emerged on March 27, 2022, when Imran Khan — just days before his ouster — brandished a letter, claiming that it was a cipher from a foreign nation, which mentioned that his government should be removed from power.
He did not reveal the contents of the letter nor mention the name of the nation that had sent it. But a few days later, he named the United States and said that Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Affairs Donald Lu had sought his removal.
The cipher was about former Pakistan ambassador to the US Dr. Asad Majeed Khan’s meeting with Lu.
The former prime minister, claiming that he was reading contents from the cipher, said that “all will be forgiven for Pakistan if Imran Khan is removed from power”.
Then on March 31, the NSC took up the matter and decided to issue a “strong demarche” to the country for its “blatant interference in the internal affairs of Pakistan”.
Later, after his removal, then prime minister Shehbaz Sharif convened a meeting of the NSC, which came to the conclusion that it had found no evidence of a foreign conspiracy in the cipher.
The cipher case against the former premier became serious after his principal secretary Azam Khan stated before a magistrate as well as the FIA that the former PM had used the US cipher for his ‘political gains’ and to avert a vote of no-confidence against him.
The former bureaucrat, in his confession, said when he provided the ex-premier with the cipher, he was “euphoric” and termed the language a “US blunder”. The former prime minister, according to Azam, then said that the cable could be used for “creating a narrative against establishment and opposition”.
Azam said the US cipher was used in political gatherings by the PTI chairman, despite his advice to him to avoid such acts. He mentioned that the former prime minister also told him that the cipher could be used to divert the public’s attention towards “foreign involvement” in the opposition’s no-confidence motion.