Appeal against cipher conviction: Why was demarche recommended if there was no plot, asks Imran’s lawyer

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Imran Khan’s counsel Barrister Salman Safdar has told the Islamabad High Court that then Pakistani ambassador to the US Asad Majeed, who had sent the cipher, stated that there was no conspiracy in the cipher, but he did not say why he had recommended a strong demarche.

He said main witness Azam Khan stated that the paper that the PTI founder waved in a public meeting was a paper which he did not read and now it was for the prosecution to prove what was waved.

IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq remarked that no one, not even the principal secretary, knew what that document was. The court observed that if the document was opened and read, then the situation would have been different.

Salman Safdar said the PTI founder did not violate his oath as prime minister.

Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hasan Aurangzeb heard the appeals against conviction of Imran Khan and Shah Mehmood Qureshi in the cipher case.

Barrister Salman Safdar read out the statement of Asad Majeed, the witness who sent the cipher, and said Majeed had told a National Security Committee meeting that there should be a strong demarche on Donald Lu’s words and relations with America may also deteriorate in future.

The counsel said that this trial proved to be very expensive for the Foreign Office. He said additional secretary US Faisal Niaz Tirmizi came from the UAE two or three times and spoke of a message from then US charge’ d’affaires. He said that the message received by Faisal Tirmizi should have been brought on the court record but it was not done.

He said the US charge’ d’affaires Angela Merkel was neither brought for a statement nor was her WhatsApp taken on record. He asked if it happened that the former prime minister and ex-foreign minister were put in jail at the behest of the US charge’ d’affaires. He said the prosecution case which he understood was nothing but to appease them.

In his remarks, Justice Miangul Hassan asked if someone in Pakistan would be put in jail if they said the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline should be built. He said such a person would be booked in an FIR.

Barrister Salman Safdar said Azam Khan and Asad Majeed could have been key witnesses. He said there were a lot of differences between the statement of former prime minister’s principal secretary Azam Khan before the magistrate and the court.

He said Azam Khan was saying that it was a paper that was waved by the PTI founder. Justice Miangul Hasan Aurangzeb observed that the PTI founder waved documents in his speech during a public meeting on October 27, while Azam Khan deposed in his statement that the copy of the cipher was lost.

The court observed that Azam Khan did not say whether he then found the lost copy. He asked the counsel to tell the court what the PTI founder had waved in the rally.

Barrister Salman Safdar said that it is for the prosecution to prove what was waved. He said Azam Khan was in charge of the Prime Minister’s Office and used to receive documents, and if there was any criminal negligence, then he is responsible for it. Further hearing on the appeals will be held on April 2.