Chairman Imran Khan's Lawyers Important Media Talk Outside Attock Jail after Cypher Case Hearing
Chairman Imran Khan's lawyers gave an important press talk after the hearing of the cypher case in Attock jail. They said that Chairman Imran Khan's jail trial is an unlawful and unconstitutional action and we have already filed a petition against it in the high court. These proceedings should not be conducted inside a jail and instead there should be an open proceeding in a regular court.
Some observations and findings from Today's hearing are as under:
- Imran Khan's lawyers had problems entering the jail and had to face resistance which is against the fundamental rights of a prisoner.
- Imran Khan was under arrest for the past 15 days in this specific case, without him knowing nor did his legal team was notified about this illegal arrest.
- From 15th August till today, 30th August, the FIA team came only twice to do a casual meeting with Imran Khan in jail.
- On 16th August 2023, FIA asked for Imran Khan's physical custody and remand without presenting him in any court, which was rejected. So it has been 15 days that Imran Khan has been in judicial custody of FIA without anyone knowing about it which is utterly shocking and suspicious.
- The nation was kept in the dark about any proceedings against Imran Khan.
- It is the blatant violation of article 10A which guarantees the right to a fair trial to every citizen.
- Today Imran Khan's legal team have filed Imran Khan's bail application after which notices have been issued to FIA and his bail hearing has been scheduled for 2nd September 2023.
- Imran Khan's legal team has also challenged his jail trial
- Imran Khan was in high spirits and gave a message to the nation that he will not give up on his struggle for real freedom. He spends most of his time reading books. He is still being kept in a small dirty cell. He was happy that he has been given a pen and paper to write for which he had been requesting for days.
- There are two charges against Imran Khan in the cypher case, one that he has hidden the cypher somewhere, and secondly that he has misused the cypher.
- The facts are otherwise. A cypher is a diplomatic correspondence which is an exchange of communication and it kept confidential. The original cypher always stays in the foreign office which has been acknowledged by the interior minister Rana Sanaullah who said that the cypher is safely lying in the foreign office.
- FIA has also accepted that the original document of the cypher is in the foreign office.
- Out of the 4 copies of the cypher, one was handed over to Prime Minister Imran Khan. The information given in that document was objectionable. It was a blatant interference in Pakistan's internal matters.
- The contents of this document where officially kept in front of the whole cabinet for an open discussion in the presence of the Prime Minister Imran Khan.
- The cabinet comprising of a legitimate government at that time decided to de-classify the cypher. The minutes of that meeting are with the cabinet division.
- Hence the day, the cypher was de-classified, it was no longer considered an official secret.
- After being de-classified, the cypher was presented in the National Security Council meeting and a demarche was issued to the US for blatant violation in Pakistan’s internal matters.
- So, the question is if the cypher has already been de-classified and is no longer an official secret, then what is Imran Khan being held accountable for, why is FIA conducting an investigation against Imran Khan and why have they arrested Imran Khan. This is very concerning.
- Imran Khan's legal team will challenge this unlawful arrest and investigation in the court of law and is hopeful that Imran Khan will soon be released.