ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: It’s been over a month since the former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Principal Secretary Muhammad Azam Khan went missing from Islamabad on June 15, 2023; however, now suddenly his Confessionary Statement has been recorded before a Magistrate under the Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), alleging that the PTI Chairman used the Cypher for political gains.
On June 15, Azam Khan, who is a serving grade-22 PAS Officer, left his house in Islamabad between 6:30 to 7 pm for an appointment and didn’t have communication with anyone since then, his family said.
The Islamabad police also registered a Kidnapping Case on a complaint of Azam Khan’s nephew, and stated that it would the legal action regarding the disappearance of the former Principal Secretary.
سینئر افسر اعظم خان گمشدگی کا معاملہ ۔
اسلام آباد کیپیٹل پولیس اعظم خان کی گمشدگی کے حوالے سے قانونی کارروائی عمل میں لائے گی۔
درخواست دہندہ متعلقہ تھانہ سے رابطہ کرے تاکہ قانونی کارروائی کی جا سکے۔
اعظم خان کے حوالے سے کسی کے پاس کوئی بھی اطلاع ہوتو پکار 15 پر اطلاع دیں۔…
— Islamabad Police (@ICT_Police) June 16, 2023
His forced disappearance had already raised eye-brows, suspecting that he would soon be brought to light to charge Imran Khan for causing the damage to the national security or indulging in financial mal-practices as the former prime minister was already facing around 150 cases and appearing in various Courts in Lahore and Islamabad on almost daily basis to prove his innocence.
In his statement recorded before the Magistrate, Azam Khan said that Imran Khan told him that he would use the Cypher to create a narrative against the military establishment and the opposition and would use it as a diversion to mislead the public.
The following is the Confessional Statement of Azam Khan on Cypher;
“On March 08, 2022, the Foreign Secretary approached Muhammad Azam Khan and informed him regarding the cypher, which was sent to him at his residence on the same evening. The Foreign Secretary informed that the Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had already discussed the cypher with the then Prime Minister Imran Khan which he confirmed next day when Azam Khan presented the cypher to him. Upon seeing the cypher Imran Khan was euphoric and termed the language as US Blunder while saying that cypher can now be manipulated for creating a narrative against establishment and opposition.
Imran Khan also told Azam Khan that cypher can be used to divert general public’s attention towards foreign involvement in the No-Confidence Motion by the opposition.
Thereafter, Imran Khan asked Azam Khan to hand over the cypher to him, which he did. (There are instructions and regulations for handing over of crypto documentation, visibly there was a violation here).
As per confession of Azam Khan, the cypher copy was retrained by Imran Khan and next day (March 10, 2022) when he asked for it, Imran Kan replied that he has misplaced it (here may add video clip of Imran Khan where he says he does not know where cypher copy is).
Azam Khan confessed that Imran Khan said to him that he will display it in front of public and twist the narrative that a foreign conspiracy is being hatched in collusion with local partners and play victim card. Whereupon, Azam Khan advised that cypher was a secret coded document and its content cannot be disclosed and thereafter suggested a formal meeting with the foreign minister and foreign secretary where they can read the cypher from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) copy (as Imran Khan original copy was still lost) and from minutes of the meeting further decision can be made.
On March 28, 2022, this meeting was held at Bani Gala, where the foreign secretary read out the cypher from master copy of MOFA and all discussions and decisions of meeting were minuted and it was decided to place the matter before the Federal Cabinet.
On March 30, 2022, a Special Cabinet meeting was held, where representative of the MOFA again read the cypher and briefed the Cabinet, it was also minuted. The decision was taken that issue to be taken up by the National Security Committee.
On March 31, 2022, the National Security Committee meeting was held where the above process was again repeated and it was minuted by the National Security Division.
As per Azam Khan, all cyphers received from the MOFA are returned to Joint Secretary FSA (representative of the MOFA in the PM Office); however, till he was the Principal Secretary the cypher lost by Prime Minister Imran Khan was not returned as Imran Khan had lost it and despite repeated requests did not return it.”
Responding to his statement, the legal fraternity questioned its authenticity as he might have been forced to spell out a statement to further implicate already battling Imran Khan.
The legal analyst Abuzar Salman Niazi wrote on Twitter “Lol, Pakistan media anchors need training in law. This is not 164 statement. This is narration written by someone else of different statements of Azam Khan. Moreover, even such statements, keeping in mind he custody or kidnapped, have no evidentiary value. This adventure will backfire.”
“For recording 164 statement, accused or witness has to be presented in court of law (before Magistrate first class or second class), when did that happen? When was Azam khan presented in court? as far as I know he was kidnapped and his whereabouts were unknown. This is what Islamabad High Court was told,” he further noted.
Also Read: Sorry America Bahadur for maligning you in the past!!!!
The lawyer and human rights activist Mian Ali Ashfaq said that such a statement by a missing person doesn’t stand as valid in the eyes of the law.
لاپتہ فرد کا 164 کا بیان- قانون بھانک منہ چڑھا رھا ھے-
ایسا بیان قانون کی نظر میں رتی برابر بھی حیثیت نہیں رکھتا- پروپیگنڈا کے لئے کہانیاں ضرور بن سکتی ھیں-
اسلام آباد ھائیکورٹ میں اعظم خان کی بازیابی کا کیس 5 جولائی کو لگا، بعدا ازاں 13 جولائی کو کیس کی لسٹ کینسل ھوئی-
— Mian Ali Ashfaq (@MianAliAshfaq) July 19, 2023
سائفر سے متعلق اعظم خان کا 164 محض ایک ڈرامہ اور نالائقی ہے۔164 کا بیان CrPC کے تحت مجسٹریٹ صرف کسی مقدمے میں دوران تفتیش ریکارڈ کر سکتا ہے۔ جبکہ سائفر سے مطالق نہ کوئی مقدمہ ہے اور نہ ہی کوئی تفتیش اور مزید 164 کے اقبالی بیان کے بعد ملزم جیل جاتا ے ٹوٹل غیر قانونی عمل۔
— RAJA AAMIR ABBAS (@RajaAamirAbbas) July 19, 2023
It’s worth noting that several appeals have been made by the PTI leadership to conduct a thorough investigation to ascertain the US involvement in Imran Khan government’s removal and even President Dr. Arif Alvi wrote a letter to the Chief Justice of Pakistan for the probe but it was never materialized.
In response to the narrative hatched by the PDM government and their loyalists in the journalist community and now as stated by Azam Khan in his confessional statement that the Cypher was a drama and merely a piece of paper, the people took to social media asking if the Cypher was in fact a well-orchestrated political move by Imran Khan to save his sinking regime, why two meetings of the National Security Committee (NSC) were held over it and they termed the Cypher Communication a blatant interference in Pakistan’s internal affairs, and later issued a strong demarche to the US.
Also Read: Ishaq Dar’s confessional statement under section 164 of the CrPC against Sharif family in Hudaibya Paper Mills Case
تہلکہ انگیز!!! EXCLUSIVE!!!
حدیبیہ کی کہانی کھل کر سامنے آ گئی!!!
اسحاق ڈار کا 164 کا بیان!!!
EXCLUSIVE!!!
نواز شریف ختم شُد!!! سیاسی بیانیے کا دھڑن تختہ!!! pic.twitter.com/t8epvrdh6v
— Enkidu (@Fallibilist1) July 19, 2023
On the other hand, journalists standing with the PDM narrative are of the view that though political leaders like Imran Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi must be held responsible for allegedly maligning the United States and the Country’s military leadership but the bureaucrats like Azam Khan and the former Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood must also be dealt with iron hand as they were equally involved in the conspiracy.
