CYPHER-GATE A ‘PREMEDITATED PLOT’ TO GAIN POLITICAL MILEAGE: AZAM KHAN In partnership with
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thursday, 20 July, 2023 i 1 muharram, 1445
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Bureaucrat records purported confession statement under CrPC 164 before a magistrate
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Ex-PM was ‘euphoric’ and termed cypher’s language a ‘US blunder,’ claims Khan
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ZAM Khan, principal secretary to former prime minister Imran Khan, on Wednesday made startling revelations in a purported “confessional statement”, claiming that the ex-premier had pre-planned the US cypher drama in an attempt to gain political mileage. According to media reports, the ‘missing’ Azam Khan has “recorded” a statement, terming the US cypher a “conspiracy” used by the former premier to “manipulate for creating a narrative against establishment and opposition. In response to the development, Imran termed Azam Khan an “honest man” and said he would not accept the statement until he heard the bureaucrat say it himself. Azam, who has been “missing” since last month, has recorded his statement under CrPC 164 before a magistrate, the sources added, with no information on his whereabouts. Khan, ousted via a parliamentary vote in April last year, had alleged on March 27, 2022, that Washington orchestrated a plan to remove him from office — and brandished the cypher at a public rally to back his claims. The US has time and again denied such allegations, terming them “categorically false”. According to the reports, the former bureaucrat, in his purported confession, said when he provided the ex-premier with the cypher, he was “euphoric” and termed the language
FIA summons Imran Khan in Cypher probe on 25th ISLAMABAD
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The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has taken a significant step forward in its cipher probe as it summons Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI), Imran Khan, to appear at the FIA headquarters in Islamabad on July 25. The FIA has issued a notice to the former Prime Minister under section 160 Cr.PC in Enquiry No. 111/2022. The notice has been sent to Khan’s residences in Banigala, Islamabad; Zaman Park, Lahore; and PTI Central Secretariat, Islamabad. According to the FIA notice, a Joint Enquiry Team is conducting an investigation into the charges of prejudicing national security and the interests of the state. The probe focuses on the alleged unauthorized disclosure of classified information by Imran Khan, his political associates, and the then Secretary to the Prime Minister through a cipher telegram, its subsequent misuse, and unauthorized retention. as a “US blunder”. “The ex-premier told him [Azam] he would display the cypher in front of the public and
Ruling coalition mulls options to dissolve assemblies ahead of schedule ISLAMABAD miAn AbrAr
The ruling coalition has been mulling options to dissolve the National and Provincial Assemblies ahead of schedule to help gain almost three months (90 days) for electioneering. Sources in the ruling parties have confided in Pakistan Today that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Nawaz Sharif and PPP chief Asif Zardari had agreed to dissolve the assemblies on August 8, 2023 so as elections could be pushed another one month. Parliament’s tenure constitutionally expires on August 12. “There is only need to take coalition partners on board the decision. Hence, the prime minister met with MQM-P delegation today. Now he would meet other partners and would take them on board including Maulana Fazlur Rehman,” a source in the government told this scribe. The source said that actually the prime minister wanted to get as much time as possible to enable overturn the conviction of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz who plan to lead the PML-N election campaign. “The ruling coalition wants Chief Justice Bandial to get retired so Justice Qazi Faiz Issa may overtake the reigns. The ruling coalition believes that only then they would be able to get relief from the top court,” the source said. The ruling coalition wants to hand over the reins to a caretaker government next month four days before it is constitutionally required to do so, in preparation for a general election by November, the sources said. Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb, however, said no date had been set for the general election. “No decision has so far been taken on the dissolution of the parliament,” she said in a tweet, adding a formal announcement would be made about the election date after a consultation among all coalition partners.
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“twist the narrative: a foreign conspiracy is being hatched in collusion with local partners and play the vic-
tim card”. The purported confession further stated that the former premier kept cypher with himself in violation of the prevailing law. When Azam, according to the sources, told Imran Khan that the cypher was a secret document and its content could not be disclosed before the public, the then-premier suggested a formal meeting with then-foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and then-foreign secretary Sohail Mahmood “where they can read the cypher from the foreign ministry’s copy (as Imran Khan’s original copy was still lost) and from minutes of the meeting further decision can be made”. The confession mentioned that the then-premier decided to call special meetings of the cabinet and the National Security Division to discuss the cypher and note down the minutes of the meetings. However, he mentioned that till the time he was Imran’s principal secretary, the cypher was not returned to the Prime Minister’s Office as Imran had lost the original document. ‘CYPHER GATE CONTROVERSY’ The controversy first emerged on March 27, 2022, when Imran — less than a month before his ouster — brandished a letter, claiming that it was a cypher from a foreign nation, which mentioned that his government should be removed from power. 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
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The Oil Companies Advisory Council (OCAC) has expressed deep concern over the government’s recent decision to reduce the diesel price, and issue a press release instead of addressing the industry’s concerns through a meeting. In a strongly worded letter dated July 19, 2023 and titled ‘Forced Reduction in HSD Price at The Cost of Industry’, the OCAC — an association of oil marketing companies and refineries — highlighted the industry’s dissatisfaction with the Oil & Gas
LAHORE
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The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Wednesday reacted to former prime minister’s ex-principal secretary Azam Khan’s “what they described” as ‘cypher drama’ statement. In a statement, the PTI spokesperson said that the unverified statement associated with Azam Khan is full of contradictions. The statement further read that Azam Khan’s disappearance case is registered and the police have failed to find him out. According to legal experts, recording a statement before the magistrate under Article 164 is unimaginable. The PTI spokesperson said that the former prime minister has already revealed the real reasons and outcome of the forced disappearance and illegal arrests. Furthermore, National Security Committee (NSC) has already verified the content of the US cypher, and the cabinet committee declassified and analyzed the cypher before it was tabled to NSC, the spokesperson added. Meanwhile, the Chairman Senate and President urged the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) to investigate the US cypher. Instead of false statement, the government should inform the nation and court regarding the whereabouts of Azam Khan and what are the charges against him, the PTI spokesperson said. On the other side, the PTI chairman and former prime minister said in his reaction to Azam Khan’s statement that he will not comment on the matter until the complete information comes out. He said that it’s not known yet in what circumstances Azam Khan made these statements. Earlier, Azam Khan, ex-principal secretary to the PTI chairman and former prime minister made startling revelations and claimed that the former PM used US cypher for his ‘political gains’ and to avert a no-confidence motion against him. Khan, who had earlier been “missing” since last month, suddenly appeared before the scene and made startling revelations about US cypher, while recording his statement under the CrPC 164 before a magistrate.
Donald Lu had sought his removal. The cypher was about former Pakistan ambassador to the US Asad Majeed’s meeting with Lu. The former prime minister, claiming that he was reading contents from the cypher, said that “all will be forgiven for Pakistan if Imran Khan is re-
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moved from power”. Then on March 31, the National Security Committee (NSC) took up the matter and decided to issue a “strong demarche” to the country for its “blatant interference in the internal affairs of Pakistan”.
At least seventeen people were killed in rain-related incidents in across country as heavy monsoon rains lashed parts of country. Out of the 17 deceased, thirteen labourers were crushed to death early Wednesday after a wall collapsed due to heavy rains in twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad, the rescue service reported. Torrential rains continue to lash the twin cities as the monsoon currents from the Arabian Sea intensified today as forecast by the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), with the highest, nearly 200 millimetres, rainfall in Rawalpindi. Rain-related incidents claim 17 lives in across country. They said the wall was 100-foot wide and 11-foot high, under which the labourers had set up a tent to live at the construction site. The rescue teams reached the site of the incident as soon as they received the report, Rescue 1122 officials stated. Police said that the rescue workers pulled bodies out from the wall’s debris with the help of machines. Search for more people likely to be stuck under the rubble is underway, with four being rescued alive so far. Meanwhile, an 11-year-old girl was killed in a similar wall collapse incident in Mohammadi Town within the jurisdiction of Khana Police Station of Islamabad. In a separate rain-related incident, several people were injured when two buses travelling via IslamabadPeshawar Motorway barreled into each other after losing control due to a slippery road amid a downpour. Rescue 1122 said that their teams are working to aid the injured while the severely injured are being shifted to hospitals in Wah Cantt and Taxila. As per Met Department, Shamsabad received up to 188 millimetres of rainfall. It poured up to 110 millime-
Regulatory Authority’s (OGRA) approach. According to OCAC, the essence of the Economic Coordination Committee’s (ECC) decision on July 28, 2020, was to ensure accurate recovery for inventory acquired. According to the pricing mechanism approved by ECC, if the Pakistan State Oil (PSO) does not import any fuel during a fortnight, premium and other incidentals for the previous fortnight have to be applied. If PSO does import, then its premiums and incidentals are used as industry benchmarks. The government had reduced the price of high-speed diesel (HSD) by Rs 7
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Supreme Court seeks government directive on military court appeals ISLAMABAD
StAff report
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tres in Chaklala, 138 millimetres in Bokra, 102 millimetres in Golra, 98 millimetres at zero-point, 79 millimetres in Kachehri, 64 millimetres at Islamabad airport, and 44 millimetres in Saidpur. The water level in Nullah Lai rose dangerously high, 14 feet near Katarian and 11 feet near Gawalmandi due to incessant rains, with army troops called in for rain emergency services. Authorities rang sirens of threat to alert the residents in the surroundings and advised them to evacuate. Meanwhile, Rescue 1122 has also been alerted in Rawalpindi. THREE KILLED IN LAHORE Three people electrocuted in metropolis Lahore including one person near Ravi River while two children lost their lives in the rain related incidents in city. A 35year-old person lost his life when he was electrocuted from switch board in Harbanspura while two kids lost electrocuted from electricity pole while swimming.
Association warns OGRA’s ‘deviation from pricing formula’ can cripple industr y AhmAd AhmAdAni
PTI plays down ‘cypher statement’ as drama
17 people killed as heavy rains lash parts of country
OCAC warns OGRA’s decision to reduce diesel price comes at industry’s expense
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Rs 40.00 | Vol XIV No 14 I 40 Pages I Islamabad Edition
per litre on July 15, 2023. In a previous letter, the OCAC claimed that even though PSO did not import any fuel during the first fortnight of July, OGRA “arbitrarily revised” the premium to $ 4.2 per barrel when it should have been $ 11.5 per barrel, according to the pricing mechanism. However, in separate press releases issued on Tuesday, the Petroleum Division and OGRA said the oil industry’s claims were “baseless and unacceptable” and the price reduction was done in accordance with the ECC decision. In its latest letter issued in response to those press releases, the OCAC dis-
CONTINUED ON PAGE 03 puted OGRA’s claim that the ECC decision was faithfully implemented. The industry contended that OGRA’s application of the new high-speed diesel premium has inflicted substantial and unjustified losses upon them. The letter further accused OGRA of disregarding the adverse impact on the industry and suggested that the regulator’s actions are aimed at reducing prices at the expense of the industry. OCAC provided specific instances where adjustments were made that deviated from the pricing formula, resulting in detrimental effects for the oil industry. These instances include unjust adjustments to avoid price increases and changes in the use of exchange rates in pricing computations. The industry warned that these changes, without taking into account the actual import of HSD at the reduced premium, have the potential to cripple the industry and jeopardise the availability of HSD in the country.
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The Supreme Court issued a directive on Wednesday, instructing Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan to seek guidance from the government concerning the right of appeal in military courts. The directive came during a hearing presided over by a six-judge bench, consisting of Justice Ijaz ul-Ahsan, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Mazahir Ali Akbar Naqvi, Justice Ayesha A. Malik, and the chief justice, presided over the case. The focus of the hearing was a series of petitions challenging the legitimacy of military trials of civilians. AGP Awan, addressing the court during the hearing, highlighted the substantial financial losses incurred during the violent protests against the unlawful arrest of former prime minister Imran Khan on May 9, amounting to Rs2.5 billion, including Rs1.9 billion of damage to military installations. He once again emphasized the need for the formation of a full court to address the matter comprehensively. In a previous statement, CJP Bandial expressed concern about subjecting civilians to the rigours and severity of military courts, given that they are entitled to certain constitutional protections. He also emphasized that such trials were not in accordance with the Constitution. The CJP noted that military law is designed to be distinct from ordinary law and is primarily applicable to military personnel. One of the key issues raised during the hearing was the lack of transparency in military court verdicts, which are not open to the public and cannot be subject to judicial review. AGP Awan cited a note from Justice Yahya Afridi, dated June 23, wherein the judge urged the CJP to consider forming a full court comprising all available judges to address the matter effectively. Rejecting the government’s request for a full court, the chief justice cited the unavailability of judges as the reason for his decision. He also expressed his satisfaction with the treatment of suspects facing military trials. Earlier this week, the federal government had argued that trying those accused of violence against the armed forces under the Pakistan Army Act (PAA) 1952 was a fitting and proportionate response within the constitutional framework and statutory regime. MILITARY TRIALS The development comes after the outgoing government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif justified trials by the military in cases related to protests, as per the media.
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