Imran Khan, the founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), and PTI leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi have each been sentenced to 10 years in the cipher case. The verdict was delivered verbally by special court judge Abul Hasnat Zulqarnain today at Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, with both PTI leaders present.
Established under the Official Secrets Act 2023, the special court, presided over by Judge Zulqarnain, has been conducting hearings at Adiala Jail since last year. Before announcing the verdict, Judge Zulqarnain reminded the PTI leaders that they were being represented by state-appointed lawyers due to the absence of their own legal representation.
Read more: Clashes at PTI Rally Prompt FIR Against Party Leaders in Karachi
During the hearing, it was noted that Qureshi and Imran had been provided with the questions under section 342, but Qureshi raised the issue of not having his lawyers present to record their statements.
The verdict follows a disruption in proceedings during the previous hearing, where Imran and Qureshi became agitated and shouted. Consequently, state-appointed lawyers were assigned to represent them in court, as their defense attorneys had once again failed to appear.
Malik Abdul Rehman and Hazrat Younus have been tasked with representing Imran Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi, respectively, as state defense counsel, and are to cross-examine the prosecution witnesses as per the court’s decision.
Read more: Amid PTI virtual event social media platforms are disrupted
Imran Khan’s official account issued an official statement after the decision of the sentence.
سائفر کیس پر عمران خان کا پیغام:
میرے پاکستانیو! آپ سب نے یقیناً اب تک میرے وکلا سے سن لیا ہوگا کہ کس طرح آئینی تقاضوں اور قانونی ضابطوں کو روندتے ہوئے سائفر سمیت دیگر جھوٹے کیسز کا ٹرائل مکمل کیا جارہا ہے۔
یاد رکھیں کہ سائفر وہ کیس ہے جس کو دو دفعہ اسلام آباد ہایئکورٹ کالعدم…
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) January 30, 2024