Ahead of Pak Polls, Imran Khan, Shah Mehmood Qureshi Get 10-Year Jail Terms in Cipher Case

A Pakistan court on Tuesday handed former Pakistan prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi 10 years in jail in the cipher case.

The case is related to a diplomatic document that Pakistan federal investigation agency alleges Imran Khan never returned. The former prime minister has maintained that the document contained a threat from the US to oust Imran Khan when he was in office.

A Pakistan special court began the cipher trial anew last month at the Adiala district jail. Imran Khan and Shah Mehmood Qureshi were indicted for the second time in this case on December 13.

The former prime minister and foreign minister of Pakistan, both of who are currently jailed, faced initial charges in the case in October but pleaded not guilty.

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) declared the government’s jail trial notification as “erroneous” because of which the entire proceedings were scrapped.

New state defence counsels were appointed after the former defence counsels failed to appear for the subsequent court hearings.

Imran Khan criticised the trial, labelling it a “joke” highlighting that both the prosecution and defence teams were affiliated with the government.

The PTI reacted on social media site X with a post saying that Pakistan stands with both Imran Khan and Shah Mehmood Qureshi. “Pakistan stands with Imran Khan and Shah Mehmood Qureshi, who defended Pakistan and stood for Haqeeqi Azadi. No such sham trial can change what happened in March- April 2022, on the orders of Donald Lu. This sentence will be in dustbin in appeal stage,” the party said.

Donald Lu was the then-US envoy to Pakistan and is currently serving as assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian affairs.