Islamabad: Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) prosecutor Hamid Ali Shah told the Islamabad High Court (IHC) that former prime minister Imran Khan was fully aware of the sensitivity surrounding the cipher, but failed to secure it, risking exposure.
Imran said that not only did he keep a copy of the cipher without permission, but he was unable to protect it. He said the main purpose of password security is to prevent unauthorized access.
On Monday, Chief Justice Adalat Farooq and Justice Miangul Hasan Aurangzeb heard the plea of PTI founder Imran Khan and former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on the encryption issue.
“Encrypted documents are sealed as classified and copies must be destroyed after six months,” FIA prosecutors said, adding that strict action was being taken to destroy them even after clarification.
After the decision of the National Security Committee (NSC) to punish the US on March 31, he said that the encryption process was completed and needed to be returned to the State Department. “All encrypted copies were returned which were kept by the PTI founder and then removed,” he said.
The Chief Justice asked whether the defendant could defend himself without legal representation, suspecting the influence of the defendant’s words. The prosecutor responded by saying that legal representation is not required for defense statements for statements made under section 342.
The Chief Justice then asked whether there were concurrent allegations of willful and reckless loss of encrypted documents. The FIA prosecutor explained that the two indictments will be carried out simultaneously, given the different times for each action.
During the meeting, when asked whether Imran Khan was aware of the sensitivity and responsibility of the cipher, the FIA prosecutor pointed to the implications of the potential leak, citing the former prime minister’s clear support for the importance of the cipher. .
Addressing the issue of encryption, Shah pointed to the strict security protocols involved in handling the problem, saying any breach could compromise national security.
On the involvement of former chief secretary Azam Khan, Shah said that though Azam Khan himself did not receive the document, it was manipulated by officials.
Prosecutors said Azam Khan took an encrypted copy and handed it over to Prime Minister Imran Khan.
He confirmed that the former prime minister had a copy of the code, which was repeated on various platforms. Prosecutors cited the PTI founder’s statement on his YouTube channel to highlight the importance of passwords and their possible implications if leaked.
The PTI founder acknowledged the importance of the code and the risk of its disclosure, the prosecutor said in response to the trial court’s admissibility of the YouTube interview as evidence.
