Pakistan's former foreign secretary Sohail Mahmood said that the copy of the controversial cipher had not been returned to the foreign ministry until his retirement.
He was recording his statement on Monday in the cipher case involving jailed former prime minister Imran Khan and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who also is a senior leader from his party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI).
The cipher case pertains to a piece of paper, purported to be a diplomatic cable -- the cipher -- that Khan had waved at a public rally on March 27, 2022, and naming the US, had claimed that it was evidence' of an international conspiracy to topple his government. Khan and Qureshi, accused of mishandling it for political purposes, were indicted in December 2023 and both have pleaded not guilty.
Along with Mahmood, former interior secretary Yousuf Naseem Khokhar and Islamabad Assistant Commissioner Irshad Awaid Bhatti recorded their statements in the case.
Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain of the Special Court conducted the hearing in the cipher case in the Adiala Jail of Rawalpindi.
The New International reported on Tuesday that Sohail Mahmood said he retired in September 2022, and until then, the copy of the cipher had not been returned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Meanwhile, Khan and the Adiala Jail superintendent engaged in a tiff in the courtroom at the end of hearing in the cipher case on Monday.
Jail Superintendent Asad Warraich stopped Khan from talking to the media, saying the media came there to cover the hearing and not to touch political issues. We have the right; you can't stop. I refuse to listen to you and will talk to the media, Khan answered.
The superintendent and DIG jails drove the media out of the courtroom. Leaving the courtroom, Khan said he was giving a message to all the party workers to come out on the streets next Sunday.
Talking informally to the media in the courtroom, Khan said cases against former prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) head Nawaz Sharif in the Supreme Court and High Courts had been closed and the election commission and the administration were helping him.
Nawaz Sharif's son sold a house worth 18 billion Pakistani rupees. Where did all this money come from? They are certified money launderers. Democracy means freedom. All our struggle is for the supremacy of law but they' will never allow it, Khan added.
