Questioned In Jail, Imran Khan's Massive Admission In Lacking Cypher Case
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Imran Khan, 70, is at the moment serving a three-year jail time period
Jailed former prime minister Imran Khan admitted to misplacing a confidential diplomatic cable as he was interrogated by Pakistan's high investigative company on the Attock Jail in a case filed beneath the Official Secrets and techniques Act for wrongful use of the labeled doc, in response to media experiences on Sunday.
Khan, 70, is at the moment serving a three-year jail time period after he was sentenced by a court docket in a corruption case earlier this month.
The cable in query was the identical doc Khan had for lengthy talked about as proof of a US-backed conspiracy to take away him because the prime minister final 12 months.
Khan had waved a doc at a rally days earlier than his ouster as prime minister in April 2022, saying it was proof of international conspiracy.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman's interrogation within the matter comes days after he was booked beneath the Official Secrets and techniques Act for making the content material of a confidential diplomatic cable from the nation's embassy within the US public.
The counter-terrorism wing (CTW) of the Federal Investigation Company (FIA) on Saturday visited the previous prime minister within the jail, media experiences mentioned.
FIA sources mentioned a six-member joint investigation crew, led by FIA Deputy Director Ayaz Khan, met Khan within the workplace of the Attock Jail's deputy superintendent and interrogated him for over an hour, the Daybreak newspaper reported.
Throughout interrogation, Khan admitted to dropping the cypher, saying he could not recall the place he saved it, The News newspaper reported. Khan additionally denied that the paper he waved at a public gathering final 12 months, days earlier than the ouster of his authorities, as proof of the conspiracy was the diplomatic cable.
"The paper I gestured within the public have been Cupboard assembly minutes and never cypher," the paper quoted Khan as saying.
The investigation company had registered the case in opposition to Khan and PTI vice chairman and former international minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, after ascertaining their deliberate involvement in misusing the cypher and its misplacement following a probe.
The FIR additionally acknowledged that the function of the previous prime minister's principal secretary, Azam Khan, ex-planning minister Asad Umar, and different associates concerned could be decided through the investigation.
Qureshi, a detailed aide of Khan, was arrested by police from his home right here on August 19, and through Saturday's interrogation, Khan was questioned concerning the former's revelations.
Citing the cypher, Khan has been alleging the US of hatching a conspiracy to topple his authorities. The US has again and again denied such allegations, terming them "categorically false".
The purported cypher contained an account of a gathering between US State Division officers, together with Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu after which Pakistani envoy Asad Majeed Khan.
The cricketer-turned-politician got here beneath elevated scrutiny following the publication of a purported copy of the key cable by the US media outlet The Intercept, with many within the earlier authorities led by Shehbaz Sharif pointing fingers on the PTI chief for being the supply of the leak.
Former inside minister Rana Sanaullah has mentioned that if Khan had certainly misplaced the copy of the cypher offered to him, it will represent against the law beneath the Official Secrets and techniques Act.
Citing the cypher, The Intercept, in a report revealed earlier this month, mentioned, "The US State Division inspired the Pakistani authorities in a March 7, 2022, assembly to take away Imran Khan as prime minister over his neutrality on the Russian invasion of Ukraine." The publication, nonetheless, additionally acknowledged it made intensive efforts to authenticate the doc, however "given the safety local weather in Pakistan, impartial affirmation from sources within the Pakistani authorities was not attainable".
The US State Division had mentioned it couldn't confirm the authenticity of the doc.
The cypher case in opposition to Khan grew to become critical after his principal secretary, Azam Khan, acknowledged earlier than a Justice of the Peace and the FIA that the previous premier had used the US cypher for his 'political beneficial properties' and to avert a no-confidence vote in opposition to him final 12 months.
On August 5, Imran was arrested and despatched to Attock Jail after a trial court docket discovered him responsible within the Toshakhana corruption case.
Further Periods Decide Humayun Dilawar additionally disqualified the PTI chief for 5 years, apparently ending his prospects for participating within the upcoming common elections, dates for which haven't been mounted.
Dozens of instances had been launched in opposition to Khan after his elimination from workplace final 12 months.
It's believed that he could also be arrested by the FIA within the cypher case if his sentence within the Toshakhana case is suspended.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV workers and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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