Cipher coverage restrictions, transparency and facts

 When the trial behind the bars takes place, who will accept it? These were the words of Justice Mian Gul Hassan Aurangzeb from the Islamabad High Court during the hearing of petitions against the trial. Attorney General Mansoor Awan, during the hearing, also agreed, saying that the jail trial will be open, and the public will be allowed during the proceedings. However, due to the non-completion of the open trial and proceedings, after four months, the trial was declared null and void.

After this, the trial started again in jail. It is not clear who attended the hearings during the trial. Media's four or five friends were given permission, but many court reporters who had been covering the trial from the first day were not given permission. International media journalists present at every hearing were humiliated at the main gate of Adiala Jail, but permission was not granted. Neither the High Court nor the Supreme Court looked into the matter.

Why was permission not granted? There is no answer, but one thing is certain: Justice Abu Al-Hasanat Muhammad Zulqarnain continued to write the first paragraph in every written order related to the jail trial, ensuring complete permission for the public. Section 352 of the CRPC was enacted, and then suddenly, under Section 14 of the Official Secrets Act, the court declared the trial camera trial. The order was issued, and anyone who discusses any aspect of the trial on print, electronic, or social media will also face action under the Official Secrets Act.

Now, let's talk about the facts behind the jail trial that have not been disclosed to the public so far. The purpose of keeping it hidden is, according to my assessment, everything is on the record, meaning it has been published on print, electronic, and social media. Among them, the complete challan, which includes approximately 90% of the case related to prosecution, is present. Former Principal Secretary Azam Khan, former Ambassador Asad Majid, former Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood, and the US response, including every angle, have come to light on social media. From March 27, 2022, until today, this case is under discussion. Then, during the hearing of the bail application in the High Court, the FIA prosecutors had given lengthy arguments, including additional information that had not come to light before. It was reported in the media that during this time, the secretariat that was secret at that time was shown to the open court in written form by the FIA.

The court read it and returned it to the prosecution. Everything else has been reported. Now the next question is, what is the reason behind keeping the trial secret? The reason is not clear to me because, in my view, if Asad Majid's statement or any secret document or cipher guidelines or the text of the cipher is brought before the court in support of the prosecution's case, they can be camouflaged. Everything else is office work. The desk from the Foreign Office to the Prime Minister's Office and then to the Prime Minister is witnessed by all those witnesses. If they saw Saif in the media, they did not. Nor did they make any statements about the text. What could be the purpose of hiding what was said against Imran Khan in the statements of the 28 witnesses? Everything has been reported verbatim in the media, so what else can be concealed? In my opinion, except for a few points mentioned above, nothing else. Besides, there is a prevalent practice in our courts where some confidential parts of the hearing are recorded on camera.

Nowadays, this practice has become very rare, but the option is still available to the court. It can camera some part of the hearing. Here, in the Saif trial, it could also have happened, but the court decided to impose complete restrictions, which raises questions about the transparency of the trial. Justice Mian Gul Hassan Aurangzeb had said in the context of such trials that do not build buildings on foundations that collapse like a house of cards. Now you are conducting a trial of a former Prime Minister in a case where the death penalty is also possible. Therefore, for a fair trial and transparency, it is necessary that instead of opening cases after 40 years, today the judiciary fulfills the demands of transparency, not becoming a tool.

Reported by Court reporter Saqib Bashir.

سائفر کوریج پابندی ، شفافیت اور حقائق
تحریر ثاقب بشیر

جیل کی سلاخوں کے پیچھے ٹرائل کریں گے تو مانے گا کون ؟ یہ الفاظ تھے اسلام آباد ہائیکورٹ کے جسٹس میاں گل حسن اورنگزیب کے جن سے ٹرائل کے خلاف درخواستوں پر سماعت کے دوران اٹارنی جنرل منصور اعوان نے بھی اتفاق کرتے ہوئے کہا تھا…

— Saqib Bashir (@saqibbashir156) December 15, 2023