A special court in Islamabad, recently established to hear cases filed under the Official Sec­rets Act, extended the physical remand of PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi for another two days in the cipher case.

The former foreign minister was arrested by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) earlier this month in connection with a first information report (FIR) registered on Aug 15 under the Official Secrets Act against ex-premier Imran Khan and Qureshi.

The FIR alleged that Imran, Qureshi and their other associates were involved in the communication of information contained in a secret classified document (cipher telegram received from Parep Washington dated March 7, 2022, to the Secretary Ministry of Foreign Affairs) to unauthorised persons by “twisting facts to achieve their ulterior motives and personal gains in a manner prejudicial to the interests of state security”.

The case was registered after an American news outlet The Intercept recently published what was claimed to be the contents of the diplomatic cable that had reportedly gone missing from Imran’s possession.

Imran has persistently claimed he was ousted from office last year under a “US conspiracy”. The PTI alleges that cipher contained a threat from the United States to oust Imran from power. Imran had since walked back on that narrative.

On Saturday, a six-member FIA team grilled the PTI chief in Attock Jail — where he has been incarcerated following conviction in the Toshakhana case — for over an hour.

The FIA was initially investigating Imran for revealing the contents of a confidential diplomatic cable and keeping it in his possession. However, after former principal secretary Azam Khan disclosed that the cipher went missing from Imran’s custody, the investigation agency also started looking into this aspect.

After Qureshi’s arrest on Aug 19, a local magistrate in Islamabad had remanded the PTI leader in FIA custody for a day. Later, a special court had again handed him to the agency twice and had declared the proceedings as in-camera.

At the previous hearing, the court had directed the FIA to present the PTI vice chairman in court today (Aug 28).

After today’s proceedings concluded, Qureshi’s lawyer Shoaib Shaheen told reporters outside the court that his client’s remand had been extended for another two days.

He also quoted the special court judge as saying that further physical remand would not be granted if there was no development in the case.

Meanwhile, talking to reporters outside the court, Qureshi said, “They have no justification for granting further remand … they are committing an absolute injustice and are violating the law.”

“They are depriving me of my right. They could not provide any evidence [against me to the court], could not prove anything and are doing injustice,” he added.

The PTI vice-chairman went on to assert, “I have fully cooperated in every aspect and now they want to pursue a political vendetta but I have God’s justice and am firm on my position.”