ISLAMABAD: Imran Khan’s former principal secretary, who has been missing for some time, hit the headlines on Wednesday when he accused the former prime minister of using US ciphers to spy on the military establishment and the then opposition. Prepared a false narrative against
Azam Khan, who has been “missing” since last month, recorded his statement under Section 164 of the CrPC before Area Magistrate, Islamabad, Awaid Irshad Bhatti here on Wednesday, sources said. There is no information about Police had registered a case against Azam Khan at the Kohsar police station on charges of “kidnapping”, which was later withdrawn by the former top bureaucrat.
Reacting to the development, former Prime Minister Imran Khan described Azam as an honest man, saying he would not accept the statement until he heard the bureaucrat say it himself.
In his remarks on Twitter, the former prime minister said, “In their frantic efforts to frame me for any case to disqualify me and send me to jail, this current crop of incompetent scoundrels have shot themselves in the foot again. They have given me an opportunity to properly expose the whole cipher drama.
“Tomorrow I will reveal the uncensored details of how this conspiracy was hatched to overthrow a government that had the best economic performance in the last 17 years and bring to power money launderers and crooks who has rocked the country. I assure you it will be more interesting than any drama on TV.
According to Azam’s alleged confession, on March 8, 2022, the then Foreign Secretary contacted him and informed him of the cipher, which was sent to his residence later that evening. Khan said the foreign secretary told him that the then foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi had already discussed the cipher with the PTI chief. According to the alleged statement, this was confirmed the next day when Azam Khan presented the diplomatic cable to the former prime minister.
Azam Khan said Khan allegedly used the cipher to draw public attention to foreign involvement in the no-confidence motion by the opposition. He claimed that the former prime minister was “cheerful” when he shared a diplomatic cable with Imran and called the language “an American mistake”. It mentioned that Imran told them that he would show the cipher at a public meeting and “disrupt the narrative that foreigners are colluding with the establishment and the opposition movement to play the victim card”. A conspiracy is being hatched.”
According to sources, when Azam told Imran Khan that the cipher was a secret document and its contents could not be disclosed to the public, the then Prime Minister asked the then Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and the then Foreign Secretary. Suggested a formal meeting. Sohail Mehmood” where he could read the cipher from the Foreign Ministry copy (as Imran Khan’s original copy was still missing) and further decide from the minutes of the meeting.
Later, the then Prime Minister decided to call a special meeting of the Cabinet and the National Security Division to discuss the diplomatic cables, the affidavit said. Khan reportedly told the magistrate that all ciphers received from the MoFA are returned to the ministry’s representative in the Prime Minister’s Office, but when he held the position of principal secretary, the original copy of the cable cipher ” “Lost” because the PTI chief did not return. Despite repeated requests.
The controversy first emerged on 27 March 2022, when Imran, less than a month before his ouster, published a letter at a public rally, claiming it was a letter from a foreign nation. , in which there was a mention of removing his government from power. Claiming that he was reading the material from the cipher, the former prime minister said that “all will be forgiven for Pakistan if Imran Khan is removed from power”.
On this occasion, he neither ‘revealed the contents of the letter’ nor mentioned the name of the nation that had sent it. The diplomatic cable was about a meeting between Pakistan’s former ambassador to the US, Asad Majeed, and Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, Donald Lowe.
But a few days later, he named America and Donald Lowe and demanded their dismissal. Then on 31 March, the National Security Committee (NSC) took up the matter and decided to issue a “strong demarche” to the country for “blatant interference in Pakistan’s internal affairs”.
The US has repeatedly denied such allegations, calling them “blatant lies”.
Later, after his dismissal, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif convened a meeting of the NSC, which concluded that there was no evidence of foreign conspiracy. Later, in two audio leaks that took the internet by storm and shocked the public, former prime minister, then federal minister Asad Umar and then principal secretary Azam Khan were allegedly accused of using the American cable and its profits. can be heard talking about in their interest.
On September 30, the federal cabinet took notice of the matter and constituted a committee to probe the contents of the audio leaks. In October, the cabinet handed over the case to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), giving the green signal to initiate action against the former prime minister. Once the FIA was tasked to investigate the case, it summoned Khan, Asad Umar and other party leaders, but the PTI chief challenged the summons and obtained an injunction from the court.
On July 18, the Lahore High Court withdrew the FIA’s injunction against the call-up notice to Khan.
In his reaction to this development, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said that Imran Khan’s conspiracy narrative based on diplomatic scope has been exposed by the confessional statement. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman [Imran Khan] tarnished the reputation of state institutions through secret conspiracy. He should be punished for making a play,” the interior minister said while addressing a press conference in Islamabad.
Sanaullah said that former foreign minister and PTI vice-chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi was also involved in fabricating false narratives. He further said that the cable gate was prepared by the then ruling party to pursue its interests.
Explaining the alleged offence, the minister said, “Publicizing a secret document or information and then taking it into someone’s possession – no person is legally entitled to have it in their custody”.
The minister also likened the case to the action initiated against former US President Donald Trump on allegations of misappropriation of classified documents. He further alleged that “while Imran told Azam that the cipher has disappeared, I guess he (Imran) is still there”.
“So the cipher is with him. He has not only committed the crime of making it public, but continues to commit the crime of keeping it in his possession until he is arrested in the case and his The mark is not recovered,” said Sanaullah.
The Home Minister was also asked whether a case would be registered against those involved in the alleged conspiracy under Article 6 (high treason) of the Constitution. “The law department’s opinion will be the final [decision] on this, but I think the Official Secrets Act is more relevant [in this case],” Sanaullah said. “Nevertheless, it is a punishable offense – to conspire against the country, to disclose a secret document and to use it for one’s own interests and to harm the national interest and then to steal and possess it – it is a is a clear offense under the Official Secrets Act and should be prosecuted.
“He should be punished and [cipher] should be withdrawn,” he said. The security czar said that if he (Imran Khan) can sacrifice national interest for personal interests, he can do anything.
He added that the secret conspiracy made it clear that the May 9 incident was a continuation of the same conspiracy. Sanaullah said that the former principal secretary’s confession against Imran is a charge sheet against him. PTI Chairman will be responsible for this crime. The Home Minister further said that it is a matter of national interest.
Sanaullah said that a case would be registered against the PTI chief after the confession of his former principal secretary and the state would become the complainant in the case. He further said that the case will be sent to a special court.
Talking to the media in Islamabad, Special Assistant on Interior Attaullah Tarar said that the Federal Investigation Agency has been directed to start an investigation against Imran Khan Niazi immediately. He said that the trial against Imran Niazi will be started without delay.
Referring to the recent decision of the Lahore High Court to lift the restraining order against Imran Khan Niazi, Ataullah Tarr said that there is no obstacle to investigate the PTI chief now. He said that Imran Khan violated the Official Secrets Act by waving a secret document in a public meeting and misled the people of Pakistan to create a false narrative for his political interests.
The Special Assistant said that former Principal Secretary Azam Khan’s confession is irrefutable evidence against the PTI chief. He said that it is ironic that Imran Khan Niazi accused a country of conspiring to overthrow his government through a no-confidence motion along with the then opposition. He misled the people of Pakistan under the slogan of “absolutely not” but now he is seeking help from the same country in the name of so-called human rights violations in Pakistan.
In a related development, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has summoned the former prime minister to probe the case. Khan has been asked to appear at the FIA headquarters on July 25 and bring documents related to the case. In the summons, FIA has warned PTI chairman that action will be taken against him if he does not appear. The FIA has been investigating the cipher case since last year.
In its response, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf termed the unverified and unverified statement attributed to Prime Minister’s former Principal Secretary Azam Khan as a collection of contradictions and part of a malicious scheme to keep Chairman Imran Khan out of the political arena.
The PTI spokesperson said that the former principal secretary has been missing for the past one month, so this statement is a collection of contradictions and part of the same malicious scheme to keep Imran Khan out of the political arena.
He pointed out that the authenticity of Azam Khan’s statement is yet to be ascertained but it is an undeniable fact that he was missing since June 17 while a formal case was registered against him and the Federal Police is still searching for him. Failed to install. the abode
The PTI spokesperson added that recording the statement of a missing person under Section 164 before a magistrate is unthinkable in the eyes of legal experts, adding that disclosing the contents of the statement of a missing person under Section 164 is a separate offence.
He said that the National Security Committee confirmed the contents of the cipher in its meetings chaired by two different Prime Ministers, Imran Khan and Shahbaz Sharif. He further said that in both the meetings, the entire civil and military leadership unanimously called it ‘blatant interference in Pakistan’s internal affairs’.
The spokesperson said that US demarches were made in Islamabad and Washington based on the cipher, adding that the cipher was reviewed and explained in a special cabinet meeting before the National Security Committee meeting. He further said that both the Speaker of the National Assembly and the President recommended to the Chief Justice of Pakistan a comprehensive and effective investigation into the cipher issue.
Meanwhile, PTI Central Punjab General Secretary Hamad Azhar said that he once again demanded the Chief Justice of Pakistan to conduct an independent investigation into the Cipher case. He added that people who now suddenly claim to attribute statements to him should be investigated immediately.
