ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Wednesday announced that it will in no way accept the “secret trial” of party chairman Imran Khan in the cipher case and strongly condemned depriving the former premier his basic right of a fair trial.
According to a statement issued by the party’s media office, a meeting of the PTI core committee was held, in which, views were exchanged on the strategy with regard to the party chairman’s trial in the Attock jail.
“It was decided that the PTI will in no way accept the party chairman’s trial in Attock jail in the cipher case. The secret trial of Imran Khan in the Attock jail indicates that the government is trying to hide something from the nation,” the PTI core committee stated, adding that the trial is being conducted in the jail to achieve the “hidden objectives”.
It further stated that the PTI’s legal team has already challenged in the court the ongoing “secret trial” in the jail, adding that the court should hear the matter immediately and issue orders to stop “the series of worst reprisals against Imran Khan.”
It stated that the PTI chairman is being punished for taking a blunt stand on “real freedom” of the nation and saying “absolutely not”.
The core committee also demanded that the process of targeting PTI vice chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi for “political revenge” through the cipher case should also be stopped immediately.
“There is no legal justification for prosecuting the former prime minister and former foreign minister under the Official Secrets Act,” the core committee further added in the statement, adding that the cipher in its original state is still present in the Foreign Office.
It added that as per the rules, the cipher never went out of the Foreign Office, which has been confirmed by former interior minister Rana Sanaullah as well as the FIA. “This fact proves baseless the allegation that the cipher was lost somewhere from the former prime minister…The cipher was declassified by the federal cabinet under its powers. After being declassified, the Official Secrets Act cannot be invoked,” read the statement.
After the cipher text became public, it maintained that the fact has also been fully revealed that there was “interference” in the internal affairs of Pakistan. “Not only the federal cabinet, but the National Security Committee also approved to launch a diplomatic demarche based on the text of the cipher. How can a former prime minister and foreign minister of Pakistan be punished for taking a stand against blatant interference in Pakistan’s internal affairs,” the PTI core committee asked in the statement.
It added that the case is a link in the ongoing series of attempts to break the morale of PTI Chairman Imran Khan and crushing the party. “These attempts to break the resolve and courage of chairman Imran Khan or to make Tehreek-e-Insaf politically irrelevant will not succeed in any way,” it added.
In the meeting, PTI president Chaudhry Parvez Elahi’s message sent from jail was greatly appreciated as he has sent a message that he will continue to standby Imran Khan.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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