ISLAMABAD: A special court Tuesday announced that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan and Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s trial in the cipher case will be conducted in Adiala jail.
Last week, the court had ordered authorities to present the former prime minister and Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi at Islamabad’s Federal Judicial Complex (FJC) today.
However, today the Adiala jail authorities failed to produce the former prime minister before the special court citing “security risks” in their report despite the orders to present him at the FJC.
The orders were issued in the first hearing of the cipher case that held outside the Adiala prisons after the Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) decision to nullify the August 29 notification for a jail trial.
Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain of the special court has been conducting the trial in jail citing security concerns since Khan was indicted on the charges last month.
In August of this year, Khan and Qureshi were booked under the Official Secrets Act 1923 in the cipher case after the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) invoked Section 5 of the said law.
Both the leaders have been indicted in the missing cipher case and are currently in Adiala jail after they were indicted by the special court.
The diplomatic cable reportedly went missing from Imran’s possession. According to the former ruling party, the cable contained a threat from the United States to topple the PTI’s government.
