A special court overseeing the cipher trial of former Prime Minister Imran Khan has scheduled the indictment of both Khan and his aide Shah Mehmood Qureshi for alleged violations of the official secrets law on December 12. Legal counsel Babar Awan, representing Khan, disclosed that the PTI leader has urged the court to summon a former army chief and a US diplomat to testify in connection with the case.
During a press briefing outside Adiala Jail, Awan stated, “Imran Khan has requested the court to summon a US embassy representative, and he also mentioned a former general,” pointing to retired General Qamar Javed Bajwa and US State Department official Donald Lu. Both figures are blamed by Khan for his resignation.
Only six media outlets covered the proceedings at Adiala Jail, where Judge Abul Hasnat Zulqarnain directed the prosecution to provide relevant documents to the defense. The court will charge Khan and Qureshi with “revealing the contents of a classified diplomatic cable” on December 12.
Khan’s family and Qureshi’s son and daughter were present at the hearing. Speaking in court, Khan reiterated his belief in a plot to destabilize his rule revealed by the cipher.
Babar Awan asserted that, due to the case’s international dimension, foreign journalists, international observers, and vloggers should be allowed to attend the trial.
In a separate development, Imran Khan’s appeal for the loss of pre-arrest bail in seven cases related to the May 9 riots couldn’t proceed due to the absence of the Lahore High Court bench. The hearing will be rescheduled after previous requests for an early hearing were granted.
Imran Khan’s applications claim technical denial of release by the trial court in the Toshakhana case. He seeks an overturn of the trial court’s order and a merits-based decision on the bail petition.
The cases include attacks on various locations, such as the Lahore corps commander’s apartment, Askari Tower in Gulberg, Shadman police station, PML-N party office in Model Town, and the burning of a container at Kalma Chowk.
