Imran Khan is charged in a cipher case with violating the Official Secrets Act

Imran Khan has been charged under the Official Secrets Act for leaking the details of a private diplomatic cable from Pakistan’s embassy in the US, it was revealed on Friday. This is yet another setback for Imran Khan.

Khan, 70, was convicted by a court in a corruption case earlier this month and is now serving a three-year prison term.

According to a report in Geo News that cited unnamed sources, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman has been charged with violating Section 5 of the Official Secrets Act of 1923 in the cipher case as a result of a FIR that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has filed against him.

According to the story, the FIA’s counter-terrorism division had filed the case against the former prime minister after discovering his willful participation in utilizing the cipher (a secret diplomatic document) improperly.

According to the study, Section 5 offenses carry sentences of two to 14 years in jail and, in certain circumstances, the death penalty if they are proven in court.

Khan has been accusing the US of developing a plot to overthrow his administration while citing the cipher. At a public demonstration, he had shown the cipher to support his assertions. Such accusations have been repeatedly refuted by the US, which has called them “categorically false.”

The so-called cipher reported on a meeting between Asad Majeed Khan, the former Pakistani ambassador, and representatives from the US State Department, including Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs.

Following the publication of a purported copy of the secret cable by the US media outlet The Intercept, the former cricketer-turned-politician has recently come under increased scrutiny. Many within the previous government led by Shehbaz Sharif have blamed the PTI leader for being the source of the leak.

According to the former interior minister Rana Sanaullah, if Khan had really misplaced the copy of the cipher that had been given to him, it would be illegal under the Official Secrets Act.

Azam Khan, a former principal secretary, gave the PTI leader the cipher, which, according to a recent article in the Dawn daily, he subsequently claimed he had lost and had refused to return.

In a piece released earlier this month, The Intercept cited the cipher and said that “the US State Department encouraged the Pakistani government in a March 7, 2022, meeting to remove Imran Khan as prime minister over his neutrality on the Russian invasion of Ukraine.”

The newspaper, however, also noted that despite its best attempts, it was unable to independently establish the authenticity of the document due to Pakistan’s unstable security situation.

The US State Department has previously said that it was unable to confirm the document’s validity.

The cipher case against Khan grew serious when his chief secretary Azam Khan testified before a judge and the FIA that the former premier had exploited the US cipher for his ‘political benefits’ and to avoid a vote of no-confidence against him last year, according to the Geo News story.

The former official said that he was “euphoric” when he gave Khan the cipher and called the language a “US blunder” in his confession. Azam quoted Khan as saying that the cable might be used for “creating a narrative against establishment and opposition” after that.

Despite his recommendation to the PTI chairman to refrain from such behavior, according to Azam, the PTI chairman employed the US cipher at political events. He cited the previous prime minister’s advice that the cipher may be used to draw attention away from “foreign involvement” in the opposition’s no-confidence move against him.

Khan said that Washington became engaged in the removal of Khan from office when he visited Moscow and met Russian President Vladimir Putin in April 2022 and lost a vote of no-confidence.

On the day that Russia invaded Ukraine, Khan visited Moscow in February of last year and spoke with Putin.