ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan’s then-principal secretary Azam Khan has reportedly recorded a statement under Section 164 CrPC in which he maintained that the former premier used a diplomatic cypher for his alleged political interest by creating a narrative against the establishment and the then opposition.
The statement, attributed to Azam Khan, which went viral and is also being reported on electronic media, stated that on March 8, 2022, the foreign secretary approached him [Azam Khan] and informed him about the cypher sent to him at his residence on the same evening.
It further said the foreign secretary informed him that Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had already discussed the cypher with Imran Khan, which Imran confirmed the next day when Azam Khan presented the cypher to him.
‘Make cypher public now,’ demands IK
The statement says, upon seeing the cypher, Imran Khan was euphoric and termed the language “the US’s blunder” while saying that the cypher can now be manipulated for creating a narrative against the establishment and opposition.
Imran Khan also allegedly told Azam Khan that cypher can be used to divert the general public’s attention towards foreign involvement in a no-confidence motion by the opposition, it says, adding that thereafter, Imran Khan asked Azam Khan to hand over the cypher to him, which he did.
It says that the cypher copy was retained by Imran Khan and the next day on March 10, 2022, when he asked for it, Imran Khan replied that he has misplaced it.
Azam Khan claimed that Imran Khan said to him that he will display it in front of the public and “twist the narrative that a foreign conspiracy is being hatched in collusion with local partners and play the victim card.”
Whereupon, Azam Khan advised that the cypher was a secret coded document and its content cannot be disclosed and thereafter, suggested a formal meeting with the foreign minister and the foreign secretary where they can read out the cypher from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) copy and from minutes of the meeting further decision can be made.
The statement says that on March 28, 2022, this meeting was held at Bani Gala, Islamabad, where the foreign secretary read out out the cypher from the master copy of the MoFA and all discussions and decisions of the meeting were minuted and it was decided to place the matter before federal cabinet.
The statement attributed to Azam Khan further says that on March 30, 2022, a special cabinet meeting was held, where the representative of the MoFA again read out the cypher and briefed the cabinet. It was also minuted. A decision was taken that issue to be taken up by the National Security Committee, it says.
It says that on March 31, 2022, the National Security Committee meeting was held where the above process was again repeated and it was minuted by the National Security Division. As per Azam Khan, all cyphers received from the MoFA are returned to Joint Secretary FSA, however, till he was principal secretary the cypher purportedly lost by Prime Minister Imran Khan was not returned to him.
Reuters adds: The government will open criminal proceedings against former prime minister Imran Khan on charges of exposing official secrets, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said on Wednesday, the latest in a string of cases the former premier has been facing.
The case is related to diplomatic correspondence between Washington and Islamabad, which Khan said early last year was part of a US conspiracy to topple his government. Washington has denied being involved in any such conspiracy.
The decision was taken after Khan’s former principal secretary Azam Khan recorded a court statement on Wednesday to the effect that a US diplomatic encrypted letter was manipulated by Khan in March 2022 to serve his political goals, Sanaullah said.
The 70-year-old former cricket hero lost power in a vote of no confidence in April 2022, in which he has said Washington got involved after his visit to Moscow.
Khan waved a piece of paper in a public gathering shortly after his removal saying he was holding a copy of a secret diplomatic letter, which spoke of dire consequences if he continued getting closer to Russia.
Khan travelled to Moscow on the eve of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Sanaullah said the principal secretary also testified that Khan told him he had lost the copy of the letter when he was asked for its return. “It is a crime to expose an official secret,” the interior minister said, adding the state will be filing the charges in the court against Khan.
“I don’t think he lost the copy. He still has it. It has to be recovered from him,” he said.
Khan said he did not believe his former secretary could testify against him. “I will not accept it as long as I don’t hear it from him directly,” he told reporters after a court hearing in another case.
The secrecy charge is the latest in a multitude of charges Khan has faced since his ouster, including graft, murder and sedition.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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