Cipher case: Judicial remand of Imran Khan, his deputy Qureshi extended by another 14 days
Islamabad (PTI) Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan and his close aide Shah Mahmood Qureshi will continue to remain in jail till October 10 as a special court on Tuesday extended for the third time their judicial remand in a case related to the alleged disclosure of state secrets.
Khan, also the chief of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, was arrested last month after a case was filed against him for allegedly violating the Official Secrets Act by disclosing a secret diplomatic cable (cipher) sent by the country's embassy in Washington last year in March.
Judge Abul Hasnat Zulqarnain conducted the proceedings inside the high security Attock Jail where the former prime minister has been detained since August 5 after his arrest following conviction in the Toshakhana case. Khan's sentence was suspended by the Islamabad High Court on August 29 in the Toshakana case, but he continues to remain in Attock prison in the cipher case.
After the hearing, the judge ordered to keep Khan in judicial custody until October 10 to complete the probe.
It is the third time that Khan, 70, has been sent to jail on remand. His judicial remand was initially extended till September 13 and then again till September 26, along with Qureshi's. The previous 14-day remand ended today.
Qureshi was presented before the special court at the Federal Judicial Complex in Islamabad. The two-time former foreign minister was brought to the court handcuffed
The court authorities informed that his judicial remand in the case was also extended till October 10.
Qureshi, 67-year-old former foreign minister, was arrested under the Official Secrets Act for violating the secrecy of the official cable sent by the Pakistani embassy in the US to the foreign office when he was the foreign minister.
As per the law ministry, Khan's special court proceedings are being held in the Attock jail "due to security reasons".
Security was beefed up outside the jail ahead of the hearing.
Talking to the media outside the court, Qureshi lamented that the PTI leadership was being punished for the crimes they haven't committed.
"(Our) conscience is content, intentions are clean... (we) are innocent... God can change hearts and overturn decisions," he said.
When asked what would happen if his party is not allowed to contest polls, the vice chairman of the PTI said the polls would then be "meaningless" and "worthless".
"The importance of the polls would end without PTI participating in it," Qureshi said, adding that the country will suffer an irreparable loss if transparent elections are not held.
Khan was later shifted to high-security Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi from Attock prison.
A day earlier, the Islamabad High Court ordered authorities to shift Khan to the Adiala jail where all accused being tried in the courts of Islamabad and Rawalpindi are kept.
Earlier, the authorities were allowed to conduct hearings of the case in the jail due to security concerns.
The cricketer-turned-politician is charged with the violation of the Official Secrets Act in connection with the leakage of a confidential diplomatic cable from Pakistan's embassy in Washington.
The cipher case was filed last month against Khan on the allegations of violating secret laws of the country in the matter of a cable sent by the Pakistan embassy in Washington in March last year.
In March last year, ahead of the vote of no-confidence that resulted in his ouster, Khan pulled out a piece of paper - allegedly the cipher - from his pocket and waved it at a public rally in Islamabad, claiming it was the evidence of an "international conspiracy" being hatched to topple his government.
However, during the interrogation with the joint investigation team (JIT) in the jail on August 26, Khan denied that the paper he waved at a public gathering last year was the cipher. He also admitted to losing the cipher, saying he couldn't recall where he kept it.
His principal secretary Azam Khan stated before a magistrate and the FIA that the Khan used it for his political gains' and to avert a vote of no-confidence against him.
The purported cipher (secret diplomatic cable) contained an account of a meeting between US State Department officials, including Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu, and Pakistani envoy Asad Majeed Khan last year.
Of late, Khan has come under increased scrutiny following the publication of a purported copy of the secret cable by the US media outlet The Intercept, with many in the previous government led by Shehbaz Sharif pointing fingers at the PTI chief for being the source of the leak.
Khan, who served as the country's prime minister until April last year, currently faces around 180 cases. These cases primarily stem from incidents that occurred following the sacking of the Lahore corps commander's house on May 9.
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Karnataka BJP targets Priyank Kharge for sharing ''AI-generated image'', demands apology
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka BJP has hit out at IT Minister Priyank Kharge, accusing him of spreading fake news by circulating a "malicious AI-generated image" to attack the prime minister and mislead the public about a court order.
They also accused Kharge of mocking the 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' initiative and demanded an unconditional apology from him.
Kharge has since deleted the post with the image in question, which referred to the 2017 Unnao rape case.
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He said that while the image in the post may have been AI-generated and was shared due to an inadvertent oversight, "your reputation precedes you, @BJP4Karnataka".
The Delhi High Court recently suspended the jail term of expelled BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar, who is serving life imprisonment in the Unnao rape case, saying he has already served seven years and five months in prison.
The Karnataka BJP claimed that the self-proclaimed "fact-checker" Priyank Kharge was caught spreading fake news.
"Despite holding the IT & BT portfolio, he circulated a malicious, AI-generated image to attack PM @narendramodi and mislead the public about a court order," it said.
"He shamefully mocked the 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' initiative -- a crucial scheme for empowering India’s daughters -- using lies to twist its meaning for cheap politics," the BJP alleged.
Accusing Kharge of ignoring facts, the BJP further hit out at him, saying the relief was a court order, which the CBI is challenging, and not a government decision.
"His (Kharge) post violates his own government's Hate Speech Bill by using communal imagery to ridicule a judicial process. Instead of upholding the truth, Priyank Kharge resorts to lies and communal incitement. We demand an unconditional apology and immediate legal action against this misinformation," a post by the state BJP on Friday said.
Reacting to the post, Kharge slammed the party, accusing it of continuing to honour and shield perpetrators.
"The larger issue remains: the BJP continues to honour and shield perpetrators. Why has no action been taken against the POCSO accused in Karnataka? And why is this leader still projected as a mentor and a 'guiding light’ for your party? Would you like me to fact-check it for you?” he added.
