PTI leaders turn up for Adiala jail visit following 2-week gap

ISLAMABAD: After skipping Adiala jail visits for two consecutive weeks, PTI leaders on Thursday managed to reach the prison for a meeting with incarcerated party founder Imran Khan, which was once again denied.

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has allowed Imran twice-a-week meetings — on Tuesdays and Thursdays — with his family, lawyers and other associates. Despite court orders, Imran’s meetings with the family and the party leaders have been largely restricted.

While Imran’s sisters continue to show up at the jail on Tuesdays, party leaders were nowhere to be seen the past two weeks, prompting criticism of the leadership.

On Wednesday, a list of PTI leaders’ names was sent to the Adiala jail superintendent for a meeting with Imran. The initial list sent to the jail administration included the names of PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, Advocate Hamid Khan and Barrister Ali Zafar.

However, PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja — who has been authorised by the IHC to share the names of leaders who intend to meet Imran with the jail administration — withdrew the list and issued a new one. In addition to Raja, the fresh list also included Humayun Mohmand, Ali Muhammad Khan, Sahibzada Sibghatullah, Mehboob Shah and Ali Bukhari.

On Thursday, all six leaders reached Adiala jail in an effort to meet with the PTI founder. But despite their endeavours, they were yet again denied a meeting with Imran.

Speaking to Dawn, Raja said all six leaders included in the list arrived at Adiala jail on Thursday and “stayed there for two-and-a-half hours, with the hope that meeting with Imran would be allowed”.

“The party has decided to approach the Supreme Court again to ensure party leaders’ meetings with Imran,” he said.

“Our appeal has been pending since October 2025. We have time and again appealed to Chief Justice Yahya Afridi to ensure that our petition would be heard,” he said.