Islamabad. A special court in Pakistan on Wednesday sent former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi to 14-day judicial custody in connection with the leak of the contents of a secret diplomatic document (cipher). This diplomatic cable was allegedly misused by the previous Imran Khan-led government for political purposes.
67-year-old Qureshi, a close aide of jailed former prime minister Khan and vice-chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, was on August 19 accused of violating the secrecy of an official cable sent by the Pakistani embassy in the US to the Foreign Office. was arrested under the Act.
Qureshi was the foreign minister when the diplomatic cable was sent. Qureshi, a two-time foreign minister, was remanded in the custody of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for four days till August 25 by the special court. Last Friday, the court had extended his remand by three days. On Monday, the court had extended Qureshi’s remand for two days.
Upon completion of his remand on Wednesday, Qureshi was produced before the recently constituted special court to hear cases filed under the Official Secrets Act. According to ‘Dawn’ newspaper report, special public prosecutors Zulfikar Naqvi and Shah Khawar appeared before the court, while lawyers Babar Awan, Shoaib Shaheen and Umair Naizi presented Qureshi’s side. During the hearing, Prosecutor Naqvi urged the court to grant further remand of Qureshi to the FIA. However, the court rejected the request and instead sent the PTI leader back to Adiala jail for 14 days of judicial custody.
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