ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday acquitted former prime minister Imran Khan and his close aide, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, in a case relating to the leaking of state secrets, Khan’s lawyer and his party said.
Khan and Qureshi were serving 10 years in prison on charges of making public a classified cable sent to Islamabad by Pakistan’s ambassador in Washington in 2022, in what is commonly known as the cipher case.
Khan has said the cable was proof of a conspiracy by the Pakistan military and the US to topple his government in 2022 after he visited Moscow just before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Washington and Pakistan’s military deny that accusation.
Khan and Qureshi, who were convicted in the case in January this year, had appealed the decision in the Islamabad High Court, which set aside their convictions on Monday.
“Thank God, the sentence is overturned,” Naeem Panjutha, a member of legal team of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, said on X.
Sayed Zulfikar Bukhari, a PTI member and a close Khan aide, also confirmed the development on X. “Conviction in Cypher Case set aside by IHC, appeals of IK [Imran Khan] and SMQ [Shah Mahmood Qureshi] allowed,” he said.
In response to Monday’s judgment, the Pakistani government, which says Khan violated clauses of the state secrets law by revealing contents of the secret diplomatic cable, said the prosecution was awaiting the detailed judgment to decide whether it would appeal the acquittal.
“If the prosecution felt like they should go into appeal then after reading the [detailed] judgment and analyzing all the details, it is the prosecution’s job and the prosecution is at liberty to decide,” Aqeel Malik, a government spokesman, told reporters at a press conference.
The state secrets case was one of the four cases in which Khan was convicted weeks before Pakistan’s national election in February. His sentences in two other cases have been suspended.
But Khan will remain in prison to serve a seven-year sentence in another case relating to his marriage to his third wife, Bushra Bibi, which contravened Islamic traditions.
The ex-premier, who was ousted in a parliamentary no-trust vote in April, has been in jail since last August. Arguably Pakistan’s most popular politician, Khan says all cases against him are politically motivated to keep him out of politics.
Pakistan court acquits ex-PM Khan, aide in state secrets case
https://arab.news/j88sn
Pakistan court acquits ex-PM Khan, aide in state secrets case
- The case centered around an alleged diplomatic cable that Khan used to claim his ouster in 2022 was part of ‘foreign conspiracy’
- Pakistan’s government says the prosecution is awaiting the detailed judgment to decide whether it will appeal against the acquittal
Pakistan’s Balochistan establishes threat assessment center amid surge in militant attacks
- Provincial Intelligence Fusion and Threat Assessment Center brings police, CTD, intelligence agencies together on one platform, says official
- Says center helps disrupt terror financing, narcotics trafficking, organized crime and enables action against unregulated communication networks
ISLAMABAD: The government in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province has established a state-of-the-art threat assessment center to strengthen early warning and prevention against “terrorism” incidents, a senior official said on Monday amid a surge in militant attacks recently.
Balochistan Additional Chief Secretary Hamza Shafqaat wrote on social media platform X that the Provincial Intelligence Fusion and Threat Assessment Center (PIFTAC Balochistan) brings police, the counter-terrorism department (CTD), intelligence agencies and civil administration together on one platform for real-time information sharing and joint analysis.
“PIFTAC strengthens early warning and prevention against terrorism, helps disrupt terror financing, narcotics trafficking, and organized crime, and enables coordinated action against illegal spectrum and unregulated communication networks,” he wrote.
“Information that was once scattered is now shared and acted upon in time, allowing the state to move from reacting after incidents to preventing them before they occur.”
https://x.com/beyondfiles/status/2010444397163532547
The development takes place amid a steep rise in combat-related deaths in Pakistan during 2025. According to statistics released by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS) last month, combat-related deaths in 2025 rose 73 percent to 3,387.
These deaths included 2,115 militants, 664 security forces personnel, 580 civilians and 28 members of pro-government peace committees, the local think tank said.
Pakistan military spokesperson Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry last week highlighted Pakistan’s counter-terrorism efforts in 2025, saying that security forces had conducted 75,175 intelligence-based operations (IBOs) and killed 2,597 militants last year. He also said Pakistan reported 5,397 “terrorism incidents” last year.
Pakistan frequently accuses Afghanistan of allowing militant groups, including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the separatist Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) to operate from its soil, charges Kabul has repeatedly denied.
Islamabad also accuses India of backing these militant groups against Pakistan. New Delhi rejects the allegations.
