Imran Khan May Be Charged With Treason In Crypto Case: Pakistani Defense Minister

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Updated: July 22, 2023 01:06 IS

Islamabad (Pakistan), July 22 (ANI): Pakistani Defense Minister Khwaja Asif said on Friday that the ‘encrypted door‘ may lead to former Prime Minister Imran Khan being charged with treason and subsequently disbarred from holding public office, Geo News reported.
Defense Minister Khawaja Asif has said the Cypher Gate may lead to the treason and disqualification trial of former Prime Minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) head Imran Khan.
The federal minister said Pakistan’s Tehreek-e-Insaaf chief used a “diplomatic cipher for political purposes and could be charged with treason for using the classified document for vested interests.”
“Article 6 can be imposed on the head of the PTI,” Asif said, referring to the law dealing with high treason under which a defendant can be sentenced to death and life imprisonment.
He called the confessional statement by former prime minister Azam Khan’s top secretary “important”, saying the former prime minister’s aide has validated his opponents’ allegations.
In particular, Imran’s top aide had revealed in the confessional statement that the then-prime minister last year used the diplomatic cipher sent by Pakistan’s envoy to Washington to fabricate a narrative against the establishment and the opposition, Geo News reported.
Earlier on Thursday, Justice Minister Azam Khan said the PTI chief “may be sentenced to up to 14 years for using diplomatic encryption for political purposes.”

Azam, who has been “disappeared” since last month, registered his statement under CrPC 164 before a magistrate, Geo News reported citing sources.
The matter relates to allegations brought by Imran Khan, who was ousted by a parliamentary vote in April last year.
On March 27, 2022, Khan alleged that Washington orchestrated a plan to remove him from office, and he brandished the figure at a public rally to back up his claims. The United States has repeatedly denied such accusations, calling them “categorically false,” Geo News reported.
In his confession, Azam claimed that when he shared the figure with Imran, the former prime minister was “euphoric” and called the language a “mistake by the United States.”
“There can be no greater treason than this,” Asif said, referring to the confessional statement that allegedly validated the ruling coalition’s claims that the PTI chief endangered the country’s national security by using the classified document for political purposes.
“National security was compromised and the official secrets law was violated,” Asif was quoted as saying by Geo News.
Earlier on Thursday, Imran called the resurgence of the crypto controversy “an attempt to disqualify him” from running in elections for the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM)-led government.
Addressing his supporters via video link, the PTI chief accused Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Asif Ali Zardari and others of hatching a plot to remove him from the political arena, Geo News reported. (ME TOO)