by Umer Burney in Dawn, Nov 28, 2023
Citing “serious security risks”, Adiala jail authorities failed to present PTI Chairman Imran Khan before the special court at Islamabad’s Federal Judicial Complex (FJC) on Tuesday as per the orders of the same court’s judge.
Last week, Special Court Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain, who is hearing the cipher case, had issued directives that the PTI chief and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi be presented at the FJC.
The cipher case pertains to a diplomatic document that the Federal Investigation Agency’s charge sheet alleges was never returned by Imran. The PTI has long held that the document contained a threat from the United States to oust Imran as prime minister.
The former premier and his aide Qureshi, who is also behind bars, were indicted in the case on Oct 23. Both have pleaded not guilty.
The trial was being held at Adiala Jail and four witnesses had already recorded their statements, with the fifth being cross-examined when an Islamabad High Court division bench had termed the government’s notification for jail trial “erroneous” and scrapped the entire proceedings.
As a result of the judgement, the special court would now start a fresh trial while the prosecution would have to file a fresh application to conduct the trial in jail.
Police, administration and other departments concerned were to meet on Monday to finalise a security plan for Imran’s appearance. However, today, the Adiala jail authorities presented a report before the court, stating that the ex-premier could not be presented due to “serious security risks”.
Today, Judge Zulqarnain presided over the hearing at the FJC, where Barrister Salman Safdar appeared as Imran’s counsel while Advocate Ali Bukhari was present as Qureshi’s lawyer. The FIA’s prosecutors Shah Khawar and Zulfikar Abbas Naqvi also appeared before the court.
During the hearing, the jail authorities submitted their report to the court, which Judge Zulqarnain reviewed.
According to reports by intelligence agencies and the police, the PTI chairman faces life threats, the report stated. It further said, “It has been informed that the PTI chairman faces security risks of a serious scale”.
The jail officials informed the court they have written a letter to the Islamabad police, requesting additional security. Safdar then urged the court to adjourn the hearing indefinitely and grant his client bail.
Then, Qureshi’s counsel Bukhari began presenting his arguments before the court. He urged the court to issue directives for his client to be presented before the court, emphasising that it was a “legal responsibility”.
The special court then reserved its verdict on the matter, with Judge Zulqarnain noting that he would issue an “appropriate order”.
The hearing
At the outset of the hearing, Safdar informed the court that there were “two separate matters” pending before the court for today.
“We had hoped that the PTI chairman would be presented before the court today but he has not been yet,” the lawyer lamented.
During the hearing, the jail authorities submitted their report to the court, which Judge Zulqarnain reviewed. The judge then said, “The jail officials are saying that he (Imran) cannot be presented.”
According to reports by intelligence agencies and the police, the PTI chairman faces threats to life, the report stated. It further said, “It has been informed that the PTI chairman faces security risks of a serious scale”.
The jail officials then informed the court they had written a letter to the Islamabad police, requesting additional security. The police’s report was also submitted to the court along with the jail’s.
Here, Safdar said it was the “jail authorities’ responsibility to present the suspect before the court” and that they could not “ignore” doing so. The counsel then read out aloud the Islamabad High Court’s order wherein it had declared Imran’s jail trial “null and void”.
The lawyer stated that he had been requesting the court to “first decide where the trial would be held” but was asked whether there was a “stay order whenever I said something”.
“However they do, they must present the PTI chairman [before the court] today,” Safdar insisted. “On what intelligence agency’s basis are they saying that there are threats to his life? When we used to say his life is in danger, we were told to reach anyways.”
The counsel asserted that the IHC’s and the special court’s orders were being violated.
The lawyer then read out the report, which stated that the capital police had written a letter to the jail officials, apprising them of security risks. He then asked why Qureshi was not presented yet as the letter was only limited to Imran.
“If there are security threats, then please adjourn this hearing for an indefinite period. If the case cannot proceed in jail [and] they (jail officials) are not willing to proceed it here, then the suspect may be given bail,” Safdar said.
At this point during the hearing, Qureshi’s lawyer Bukhari began presenting his arguments. He noted that Khawar, the FIA prosecutor, had “read the jail superintendent’s letter himself”, and asked why his client had not been presented before the court.
“Neither has any charge been framed yet, nor has any copy [of charge sheet] been distributed. Then why has he been kept inside [the jail]?” the counsel asked.
Bukhari then urged the court to issue directives for his client to be presented before the court, emphasising that it was “necessary” to present the suspect in an open trial and a “legal responsibility” to do so.
“It is the court’s responsibility to ensure the suspects’ production before the court,” he argued. “If court orders are not obeyed, you have the authority to send government officials to jail,” the advocate said while addressing the judge.
Judge Zulqarnain then said he would issue an “appropriate order” on the matter. He asked whether the court had summoned the suspects, to which an FIA prosecutor replied in the affirmative.
“No matter how many notifications you bring, it does not matter. The public and the media should have access to the court,” the judge observed.https://www.dawn.com/news/1793226/imran-not-brought-to-islamabads-judicial-complex-in-cipher-case-due-to-serious-security-risks
