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ISLAMABAD: While accusing the incumbent government of tapping phones,Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Monday warned that if former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s phone calls with his principal secretary Azam Khan were leaked, it would not sit quietly.
Addressing a press conference senior PTI leader and former federal minister Shireen Mazari said: “Ansar Abbasi sahab, in a blog has said that an audio of former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s telephone call on a secure line with his principal secretary Azam Khan will be leaked.”
She said that if such audio is leaked, it will be a violation of the official secrets act as the conversation between a prime minister and his principal secretary is protected under the law.
The former minister’s presser came after alleged audio of Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi emerged in which she can be heard instructing the Focal Person to PTI Chairman on Digital Media Dr Arsalan Khalid to run trends against their rivals declaring them as traitors.
Mazari said “if a journalist leaks this, they are not only violating Article 14, they will also be in violation of the official secrets act. Beware, we will not sit quietly if this happens,” he said.
The PTI senior vice president also alleged that the incumbent government was involved in tapping phones, which she said, is a violation of a Supreme Court order.
Mazari said: “Claims are being made that the government is tapping phones. The Supreme Court put an end to phone tapping in the Benazir Bhutto case. But despite the Supreme Court’s order, phones are still being tapped.”
Casting aspersion on the motives behind phone tapping, the PTI leader called on the apex court to take a suo-motu notice on the matter as the move violates the top court’s order.
Commenting upon the leaked audio of Bushra Bibi and Dr Arsalan Khalid, Mazari said that “no substantial” conversation was there and “the actual problem here is of phone tapping”.
“One wonders how much did the US help in tapping the phones,” Mazari said, as she claimed that the “conspiracy” against the PTI chairman was coming to the fore.
Moving on, the PTI leader said that the “handlers” of the alleged conspiracy have become afraid of the party’s massive power shows across the country.
Mazari said that the government now faces uphill tasks on several fronts, as it is already entangled with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to revive the stalled loan programme.
“The government is in trouble as the IMF is calling for accountability for corruption,” the former human rights minister said, as Pakistan continues to struggle in its bid to renew the programme.
Mazari said that the “neutrals and the government” could not find evidence of corruption against Khan.