Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said on Wednesday that the reported confession of ex-principal secretary Azam Khan was a \u201ccharge sheet\u201d against PTI chief Imran Khan.<\/p>\n
His remarks came as an alleged confession of Azam, Imran\u2019s principal secretary when he was prime minister, surfaced on social media wherein he claimed that the narrative behind the cipher \u2014 which the PTI chief has for long presented as evidence of a \u201cforeign conspiracy\u201d to oust him from the top office \u2014 was fabricated.<\/p>\n
Interestingly, the development comes a day after the Lahore High Court (LHC) withdrew a stay order against the call-up notice to Imran by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in an inquiry into an audio leak relating to the cipher. At the same time, a senior US official also publicly defended Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu, who was blamed by Imran for orc\u00adh\u00adestrating the no-confidence vote that led to his ouster.<\/p>\n
At the outset of the press conference in Islamabad, Sanaullah said Azam\u2019s statement was a \u201ccharge sheet against Imran Khan Niazi\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt shows who conspired against this country and its institutions and played a game for his personal and political interest while damaging the country\u2019s interests.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn the one hand, he pushed the economy into a crisis and on the other, damaged the country\u2019s foreign ties,\u201d he maintained.<\/p>\n
The minister said this person had \u201ccommitted a crime\u201d for which he should be \u201cpunished at all costs as those who played with the country\u2019s interests have confessed their crime\u201d.<\/p>\n
And former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi was also \u201cfully involved in this crime\u201d, he added.<\/p>\n
Elaborating on the alleged crime, he said, \u201cMaking a classified document or a [piece of] information public and then taking it in one\u2019s possession \u2014 no person is legally eligible to have it (cipher) in their custody\u201d. The minister also likened the case to proceedings initiated against former US president Donald Trump on allegations of mishandling classified documents.<\/p>\n
He further alleged that while \u201cImran told Azam that the cipher had gone missing, my assessment is that he (Imran) still has it\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo the cypher is with him. He has not just committed the crime of making it public, but he continues to be guilty of a crime by keeping it in his possession until he is arrested in this case and the cypher is recovered,\u201d the minister said.<\/p>\n
During the press conference, the interior minister was also asked about whether a case against those involved in the alleged conspiracy would be registered under Article 6 (high treason) of the Constitution.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe law department\u2019s opinion would be the final [decision] on this, but I think the Official Secrets Act is more relevant [in this case],\u201d the interior minister said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNevertheless, this is a punishable crime \u2014 to conspire against the country, expose a secret document and use it for your own interests and to damage the country\u2019s interest and then to steal it, take it in your possession \u2014 this is a clear crime under the Official Secrets Act and it should be prosecuted.<\/p>\n
\u201cA punishment should be meted out over this and the [cipher] should be recovered,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Asked whether this case would also be referred to a \u201cspecial court\u201d as others being conducted under the Official Secrets Act, he replied in the affirmative.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, this case will definitely be referred to a special court,\u201d he said emphatically.<\/p>\n
Responding to a question about the PTI chief\u2019s arrest in various cases against him, Sanaullah said, \u201cWhether he is arrested first or gets convicted by the court, either of these decisions could be made\u201d. Meanwhile, investigations against him in various cases were being conducted in which \u201cevidence is also being collected and he is also being prosecuted\u201d.<\/p>\n
He also clarified that action in the case pertaining to the cipher would be limited to Imran, Qureshi any other of their \u201cpolitical associates\u201d possibly involved in the matter.<\/p>\n
The then-foreign secretary and Azam were not involved in \u201cexposing the cipher, keeping it in their private possession and playing it up\u201d, and hence, no action would be taken against them, he explained.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said on Wednesday that the reported confession of ex-principal secretary Azam Khan was a \u201ccharge sheet\u201d against PTI chief Imran Khan. His remarks came as an alleged confession of Azam, Imran\u2019s principal secretary when he was prime minister, surfaced on social media wherein he claimed that the narrative behind the cipher […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":343059,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-344091","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n