- Barrister Ashfaq says “no truth at all” in circulating reports.
- Faiz Hamid’s lawyer expresses rumours “speculative and baseless”.
- Government ministers have claimed that Faiz will approve against Imran.
ISLAMABAD: Faiz Hamid, former chief of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), will under no circumstances become an approver against Imran Khan, the former spy master’s lawyer has claimed.
Barrister Mian Ali Ashfaq, counsel for Faiz, rejected reports suggesting that his client may turn an endorser against jailed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran, terming such claims as “speculative and baseless”, reported The news.
Responding to the publication’s queries, Barrister Ashfaq said there was “no truth at all” in reports circulating in certain media and political circles that Faiz was considering becoming an approver in cases against Imran.
“All such reports are completely unfounded and based on speculation,” he said.
The clarification comes amid repeated statements by some federal ministers and Senator Faisal Vawda – considered close to the military establishment – who have said the former spy chief would testify against the former prime minister.
There is also speculation about an alleged connection between Imran and Faiz, particularly in relation to the violence on 9 May 2023. When asked whether he had directly discussed the matter with his client, Barrister Ashfaq did not answer in the affirmative but said, “I know such things for a fact”, indicating that there was no question of Faiz becoming an endorser against the PTI founder.
Speculation of a Faiz-Imran connection is a government-backed narrative that has been repeated time and again ever since the May 9 incidents, when military installations were attacked after Imran’s arrest.
Speculation continued after the recent sentencing of Faiz to 14 years by a military court.
Senior cabinet members, including Defense Minister Khawaja Asif and Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, have repeatedly claimed that the violence was the result of a coordinated plan involving Imran and the former ISI chief.
But despite these claims, the military’s media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), has yet to state in any of its public briefings that such a link existed.
Especially when the government’s chief spokesperson, the information minister, was recently asked by The news whether allegations of an Imran-Faiz connection were based on findings of a civilian or military investigation or merely based on circumstantial evidence, he avoided a direct answer and referred the matter to the ISPR.
Originally published in The News
