Pakistan: Shah Mehmood Qureshi moves court against conviction in cypher case

Islamabad [Pakistan], February 16 : Shah Mehmood Qureshi, the vice chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and a former foreign minister moved the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday against his conviction in the Cypher case, ARY News reported.
On January 30, a special court constituted under the Official Secrets Act sentenced former Prime Minister Imran Khan and ex-Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi to ten years in prison in the cypher case.
According to sources, Shah Mehmood Qureshi filed a plea against the cypher case conviction, urging the IHC to declare the trial court's January 30 decision null and invalid.
The plea said that the trial of the cypher case was not conducted in accordance with the law, and that the process was breached during the trial, which began on August 15 last year, according to ARY News.
Notably, the first information report (FIR) was filed on August 15 under the Official Secrets Act.
The Home Secretary filed a complaint, which led to its registration.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf founder, and the country's former Prime Minister Imran Khan and ex-Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi were named in the report, as were former Principal Secretary Azam Khan and former Planning Minister Asad Umar, according to ARY News.
It is vital to note that the cypher case involves a diplomatic document that, according to the Federal Investigation Agency's charge sheet, was never returned by Imran Khan.
The PTI claimed that the paper included a threat from the United States to depose Imran as prime minister.
Imran Khan and Shah Mehmood Qureshi have been on trial at Adiala Jail since last year for 'distorting' the facts of the diplomatic cypher case. Both PTI leaders were accused of conspiring to abuse the cypher's contents for nefarious reasons.