RAWALPINDI: The piece of paper waved during the PTI rally was not the actual cypher but a paraphrased copy of it, former prime minister Imran Khan was reported to have said in his statement submitted in the cypher case.
The PTI founding chairman’s statement submitted under Section 342 maintained that he only waved a paper during the rally and merely expressed fear of a conspiracy. “Did not name any country, and also chose my words carefully,” the ex-premier submitted.
“The plan was to give Bajwa – retired army chief – the message that the entire plan will be exposed if the government is conspired against,” Imran maintained. He said the former army chief “repeatedly lied” about wanting the PTI government to not be ousted.
Imran said that the responsibility of protecting the cypher was not his. “One of my ADCs stole the cypher on Bajwa’s directives,” he said, adding that he was never in possession of the actual cypher.
In his statement submitted in court, the former prime minister said that the cypher was in the Prime Minister’s Office. “The responsibility for the PMO’s security rested with the military secretary, principal secretary and secretary protocol during my three-and-a-half years,” he said.
He added, “This is the only document that has gone missing from the Prime Minister’s Office. If the cypher is missing then the military secretary should be asked to conduct an inquiry.”
The former premier said that this was the only time when he even got angry with the military secretary. “One of my ADCs stole the cypher on Gen Bajwa’s order,” Imran repeated. Following an inquiry, the military secretary told Imran that there was no clue regarding the missing cypher, the statement maintains.
Imran stated that an elected prime minister was “removed through a conspiracy”, adding that “General Bajwa and US Secretary of State Donald Lu were involved in the conspiracy”. “The conspiracy to overthrow my government took place in October 2021 when General Bajwa replaced ISI chief Gen (retd) Faiz Hameed,” the PTI leader stated.
The PTI founder said that “all this happened with the connivance of Gen Bajwa, [PML-N leaders] Nawaz Sharif and Shehbaz Sharif, because they promised Gen Bajwa to extend his tenure”.
“[Former ambassador to the US] Hussain Haqqani was hired to lobby in the US on behalf of Gen Bajwa, for which the former was paid $35,000. In April, Hussain Haqqani tweeted that Imran Khan was anti-US while Gen Bajwa was pro-US,” the former premier maintained in his statement.
Imran claimed that the former army chief used the ISI to convince the PTI’s political allies to withdraw their support for the government and also forced party members to leave, insisting that their “future lay with the PML-N”.
“I asked Gen Bajwa regarding the conspiracy when I met him, but he claimed nothing of the sort was taking place. Despite several meetings with him, the ISI kept working against my government,” claimed the PTI founder in his statement.
“During the first week of March, I had an official trip to Russia and the foreign ministry agreed with the visit. Before leaving for Russia, I also talked with Gen Bajwa and he too agreed that I should undertake the visit. A few days after I returned, Shah Mahmood Qureshi informed me that Asad Majeed had sent a cypher message from Washington.”
“It was a shocking cypher which was not meant for the prime minister or foreign minister to see. Qureshi then called Asad Majeed for information regarding the cypher and I was left surprised after reading it,” said Imran.
Referring to Majeed’s meeting with the US officials, Imran said there was no precedent for a diplomat being threatened by the US officials during a meeting. “They threatened that if the prime minister is not removed, there would be consequences.”
“Asad Majeed informed Donald Lu that all stakeholders had agreed on the official visit to Russia. Asad Majeed recommended issuing a demarche to the US, while our allies were sending us messages that they were being pressurised by the ISI to leave the alliance.”
In his statement, Imran also claimed that the US Embassy in Pakistan was also active. “They were calling people to the embassy and during this time, several meetings were also held with Gen Bajwa. They were told that if the government is ousted the economy would be destroyed, and the economic plan of Shehbaz Sharif will not be able to stabilise the economy.”
Imran further claimed that the “cypher sent by Donald Lu was addressed to Gen Bajwa as he had the power to topple the government”.
“The rate of MNAs was set at Rs200 million in Sindh House. The attorney general refused to speak on the cypher as he had been approached by the ISI. Sometime later the government was toppled. I went to the people and their response was historical as the PTI won 30 out 37 seats in the by-polls – after its government was toppled,” the ex-premier maintained.
Earlier today, the special court established under the Official Secrets Act awarded Imran and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi 10 years imprisonment in the high-profile cypher case.
The court, presided by Judge Abul Hasanat Zulqarnain, announced the verdict during the hearing held within the premises of Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail.
Before sentencing Imran, the judge asked the former premier one last time where the cypher was.
“I have mentioned in my statement that the Prime Minister House’s security was not my responsibility. I don’t have the cypher,” he stated.
The judge also provided the two PTI leaders with copies of the statement and the questionnaire under Section 342 and both accused were asked to record their replies in the questionnaire.
After Imran and Qureshi recorded their statements under Section 342, the court announced its verdict.
The case originated from Imran’s public display of a paper during a rally in Islamabad on March 27, 2022, claiming it as evidence of an “international conspiracy” before a vote of no-confidence led to his government’s ouster.
The FIA initiated its probe into the so-called “cypher-gate” on July 19, 2023, after the previous coalition government, led by the PML-N, announced an official inquiry against Imran and his close associates for violating the OSA.
Imran was arrested on August 5, 2023, following his conviction in the Toshakhana case by a local court of Islamabad. Later, he was also arrested in the cypher case on August 29.
As per the challan papers, both Imran and Qureshi, the former foreign minister, were charged under sections 5 and 9 of the OSA. These provisions entail the possibility of the death penalty or life imprisonment. –Agencies
