Cipher case: Court halts trial of Imran, Qureshi

Islamabad, December 28

A Pakistan high court on Thursday halted until January 11 the ongoing trial of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan and his close aide ex-foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in the cipher case for allegedly leaking state secrets and violating the laws of the country.

Islamabad HC Justice Miangul Hasan Aurangzeb issued the order while hearing the petition of 71-year-old Khan against an in-camera trial going in the Adiala Jail Rawalpindi. The Special Court started fresh proceedings against the accused earlier this month and indicted them on December 13 after the IHC annulled previous proceedings, including the indictment of October 23 by declaring that the proper procedure was not adopted for the jail trial. — AP

Ex-foreign minister in 14-day custody

A court in Pakistan on Thursday rejected a police plea seeking a 30-day remand of former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and instead sent him to a 14-day judicial custody in a fresh case linked to the May 9 attack

on military installations.