PTI warns against leaking Imran Khan’s audio calls

ISLAMABAD: PTI's senior leader Shireen Mazari on Monday warned that the party would "not sit quietly if Chairman Imran Khan’s telephone calls with his principal secretary Azam Khan are leaked".

Addressing a press conference flanked by Fawad Chaudhry, Mazari said: “Ansar Abbasi sahab, has written in a blog that an audio of former prime minister Imran Khan's telephone call on a secure line with his principal secretary Azam Khan will be leaked.”

Mazari’s warning came after alleged audio of Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi emerged in which she could be heard instructing the Focal Person to PTI Chairman on Digital Media Dr Arsalan Khalid to run trends against their rivals on social media, declaring them traitors.

Mazari said that if such audio is leaked, it will be a violation of the official secrets act as the conversation between a prime minister and his principal secretary is protected under the law.

“...if a journalist leaks this, they are not only violating Article 14, they will also be in violation of the official secrets act. Beware, we will not sit quietly if this happens,” he said.

The PTI senior vice president also alleged that the incumbent government was involved in tapping phones, which she said, is a violation of a Supreme Court order.

In the verdict issued in the late 1990s, the court had said that an individual’s privacy under Article 14 was not just restricted to physical boundaries of home or work but also extended to public places.

Mazari said: “Claims are being made that the government is tapping phones. The Supreme Court put an end to phone tapping in the Benazir Bhutto case. But despite the Supreme Court’s order, phones are still being tapped.”

Casting aspersion on the motives behind phone tapping, the PTI leader called on the apex court to take a suo-motu notice on the matter as the move violates the top court’s order.

‘Actual problem is of phone tapping’

Commenting upon the leaked audio of Bushra Bibi and Dr Arsalan Khalid, Mazari said that "no substantial” conversation was there and “the actual problem here is of phone tapping”.

“One wonders how much did the US help in tapping the phones,” Mazari said, as she claimed that the “conspiracy” against the PTI chairman was coming to the fore.

Moving on, the PTI leader said that the “handlers” of the alleged conspiracy have become afraid of the party’s massive power shows across the country.

The PTI has been holding back-to-back rallies in different cities as it refuses to accept the coalition government, claiming that it has come into power through a United States-backed conspiracy.

Mazari said that the government now faces uphill tasks on several fronts, as it is already entangled with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to revive the stalled loan programme.

“The government is in trouble as the IMF is calling for accountability for corruption,” the former human rights minister said, as Pakistan continues to struggle in its bid to renew the programme.

Mazari said that the “neutrals and the government” could not find evidence of corruption against Khan.