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NEW DELHI: Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan was on Tuesday sentenced to 10 years in jail in the Cipher case. Shah Mahmood Qureshi, former foreign minister of Pakistan, has also been handed jail term in the case.
“Former PM Imran Khan and PTI (Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf) vice-president Qureshi have been sentenced to 10 years each inside prison in the cypher case,” a PTI spokesman told AFP.
The party said it would challenge the decision and called it a ‘sham’ case.
The verdict was delivered orally by Special Court Judge Abul Hasnat Zulqarnain, who has been presiding over the case’s hearings at the jail since its inception last year.
This case revolves around a diplomatic document, which, according to the Federal Investigation Agency’s charge sheet, was not returned by Imran Khan. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has consistently maintained that this document contained a threat from the United States aimed at removing Imran Khan from his prime ministerial position.
Despite the Supreme Court granting post-arrest bails to both Imran Khan and Qureshi in December, their legal battles continued. While Khan faced incarceration in relation to other cases, Qureshi’s anticipated release was hindered due to his manhandling and subsequent re-arrest in a new case related to the events of May 9. Additionally, Justice Miangul Hasan Aurangzeb temporarily halted the special court’s proceedings against the suspects, including Qureshi, until January 11, citing “legal errors” in the case.
The trial, which was restarted last month at the Adiala district jail, saw Imran Khan and Qureshi being indicted for the second time on December 13. Both had initially been indicted in October and had pleaded not guilty. The Islamabad High Court (IHC) had previously declared the government’s notification for a jail trial as “erroneous” and nullified the entire proceedings.
The trial took a turn last week when state defense counsels were appointed due to the absence of the previously appointed ones, who had agreed to conduct cross-examinations but did not appear in the subsequent two court hearings. Imran Khan criticized the trial, stating, “the trial was nothing less than a ‘joke’ because the prosecution and defence team both belonged to the government.”
“Former PM Imran Khan and PTI (Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf) vice-president Qureshi have been sentenced to 10 years each inside prison in the cypher case,” a PTI spokesman told AFP.
The party said it would challenge the decision and called it a ‘sham’ case.
The verdict was delivered orally by Special Court Judge Abul Hasnat Zulqarnain, who has been presiding over the case’s hearings at the jail since its inception last year.
This case revolves around a diplomatic document, which, according to the Federal Investigation Agency’s charge sheet, was not returned by Imran Khan. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has consistently maintained that this document contained a threat from the United States aimed at removing Imran Khan from his prime ministerial position.
Despite the Supreme Court granting post-arrest bails to both Imran Khan and Qureshi in December, their legal battles continued. While Khan faced incarceration in relation to other cases, Qureshi’s anticipated release was hindered due to his manhandling and subsequent re-arrest in a new case related to the events of May 9. Additionally, Justice Miangul Hasan Aurangzeb temporarily halted the special court’s proceedings against the suspects, including Qureshi, until January 11, citing “legal errors” in the case.
The trial, which was restarted last month at the Adiala district jail, saw Imran Khan and Qureshi being indicted for the second time on December 13. Both had initially been indicted in October and had pleaded not guilty. The Islamabad High Court (IHC) had previously declared the government’s notification for a jail trial as “erroneous” and nullified the entire proceedings.
The trial took a turn last week when state defense counsels were appointed due to the absence of the previously appointed ones, who had agreed to conduct cross-examinations but did not appear in the subsequent two court hearings. Imran Khan criticized the trial, stating, “the trial was nothing less than a ‘joke’ because the prosecution and defence team both belonged to the government.”
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