Pakistan: “Imran Khan Being Mentally Tortured In Adiala Jail,” Alleged Lawyer

Islamabad [Pakistan]: The lawyer of former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan alleged on Saturday that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is being “mentally tortured” in the Adiala Jail, ARY News reported.

PTI chief lawyer Naeem Hairder Panjotha alleged that Khan is kept in a small room of C-class jail and is not allowed to come out of that room even for a walk.

Imran Khan’s counsel said that he doubts the quality of food being given to the former PM. Notably, the plea regarding food is still pending in the court.

Panjotha further questioned the in-camera hearing of cipher case and urged to proceed with the open trial of the case. He said the conviction of PTI chairman in cipher is a part of “campaign to keep the former PM out of politics”, ARY News reported.

Earlier in the day, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) rejected the challan submitted by Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and demanded the formation of a judicial commission to investigate the cipher case.

In a statement issued on Saturday, the PTI spokesperson said that the challan submitted against party chairman and vice chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi was “meaningless and bogus as cipher case”.

In its challan, the FIA stated that Imran Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi were found guilty in the matter. The agency requested the court to conduct their trial and sentence them in the case.

Former PTI Secretary-General Asad Umar’s name has not been included in the list of accused, Geo News reported citing sources. Imran Khan’s former principal secretary Azam Khan has been named as a “strong witness” in the case, the report said.

Geo News reported citing sources, the names of former foreign secretaries Asad Majeed, Sohail Mehmood and the then additional foreign secretary Faisal Niaz Tirmizi have also been included in the list of witnesses.

On September 26, the special court extended the judicial remand of Imran Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi till October 10 in the cipher case. Earlier in August, the FIA booked the PTI chairman and vice chairman under the Official Secrets Act for allegedly misplacing and misusing the classified document for their vested political interests.

Subsequently, Khan and Qureshi were arrested in connection with the probe into the case and a special court was formed under the Official Secrets Act to try the accused, Geo News reported.

The ciphergate controversy first emerged on March 27, 2022, when Imran Khan just days before his ouster in April 2022 brandished a letter, claiming that it was a cipher from a foreign nation, which mentioned that his government should be removed from power, according to The News International report.

He did not reveal the contents of the letter nor mention the name of the nation that had sent it. But a few days later, he named the United States and said that Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Affairs Donald Lu had sought his removal, The News International reported.

Imran Khan claimed that he was reading contents from the cipher, said that “all will be forgiven for Pakistan if Imran Khan is removed from power”.

The cipher case against Pakistan’s former PM became serious after his principal secretary Azam Khan in a statement before a magistrate and the FIA said that the former PM had used the US cipher for his “political gains” and to avert a vote of no-confidence against him, The News International reported.