Explained: What Is The Cipher Case That Led Former Pakistan PM Imran Khan To 10-Year Jail Term?

The second conviction for the embattled PTI founder in recent months, involving a three-year sentence in a corruption case, had already ruled him out of the general elections next month, as his jail term was suspended while challenging the corruption conviction.

Today's decision was verbally announced by special court judge Abul Hasnat Zulqarnain at the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi in the presence of both PTI leaders. The special court, established under the Official Secrets Act 2023, has been holding hearings of the case in Adiala Jail since it started last year, reported Geo News.

Involvement in the offence related to the alleged misuse of diplomatic cable for political purposes was pleaded not guilty by both politicians. Before announcing the verdict, Judge Zulqarnain, during the hearing, reminded the PTI leaders that their lawyers were not appearing in court and were given state lawyers.

The court also observed that Qureshi and Imran were given the questions under 342. However, Qureshi said that his lawyers are not present so how can they record their statement. The verdict comes a day after the hearing was adjourned when the proceedings were disrupted due to Imran and Qureshi's ruckus in the courtroom, as per the Pakistan media reports.

Imran, Qureshi get state lawyers

The decision to appoint state counsel to represent the PTI leaders was made by the judge on Saturday, as the defence lawyers once again failed to appear before the court. The court decision mandated Malik Abdul Rehman and Hazrat Younus to represent the PTI founding chairman and Qureshi, respectively, as the state defence counsel and cross-examine the prosecution witnesses.

In November of last year, after Khan and Qureshi challenged their indictment in the case, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) declared their jail trial "null and void" while allowing their intra-court appeals in the case. However, the federal cabinet yet again approved the summary of holding the jail trial of both politicians.

Following this, the special court once again resumed the cipher trial afresh, and both the PTI leaders were indicted for a second time in the case on December 13. On December 22, the Supreme Court granted post-arrest bail to Imran and Qureshi in the case. While Imran remained incarcerated because of other cases, Qureshi was rearrested in a fresh case.

Later, IHC's Justice Miangul Hasan Aurangzeb, acting on PTI's petition, barred the special court from proceeding against the suspects till Jan 11. However, on January 11, the IHC set aside the orders related to the in-camera trial and declared all proceedings after December 14, 2023, invalid, reported Geo News.

Later, the stay order was withdrawn after the state counsel assured that the witnesses' statements would be recorded again.

Gohar asks PTI workers to stay calm

As soon as the verdict was announced, party workers were urged by Khan's successor Barrister Gohar Ali Khan to remain calm and not to take the law into their hands over the verdict.

"An effort is being made to shift our focus from the elections, everyone will be held accountable on February 8," was conveyed by Gohar to journalists at the Islamabad High Court.

Regarding the case, Gohar stated that cases against the PTI chief are being conducted without taking into account the Constitution and law. He added that the judge hearing the case was asking questions on his own.

The possibility of appealing the verdict was also hinted at by the PTI leader, stating that the party has faith in the IHC and Supreme Court.

What is ciphergate?

The controversy first emerged on March 27, 2022, when Khan - less than a month before his ouster in April 2022 - while addressing a public rally waved a letter before the crowd, claiming that it was a cipher from a foreign nation that had conspired with his political rivals to have PTI government overthrown.

The contents of the letter were not revealed, nor was the name of the nation it came from mentioned. But a few days later, the United States was accused of conspiring against him, and Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Affairs Donald Lu was alleged to have sought his removal, according to Khan.

The cipher was about former Pakistan ambassador to the US Majeed's meeting with Lu. Reading contents from the cipher, the former prime minister claimed that "all will be forgiven for Pakistan if Imran Khan is removed from power," according to Geo News.

Then on March 31, the National Security Committee (NSC) took up the matter and decided to issue a "strong demarche" to the US for its "blatant interference in the internal affairs of Pakistan." Later, after his removal, then-prime minister Shehbaz Sharif convened a meeting of the NSC, which concluded that no evidence of a foreign conspiracy in the cable had been found.

In the two audio leaks that took the internet by storm and shocked the public after these events, discussions about the US cipher and how to use it to their advantage could allegedly be heard, involving the former prime minister, then-federal minister Asad Umar, and then-principle secretary Azam.