PTI rails against jail admin after another meeting with Imran denied

ISLAMABAD: The sisters of PTI founder Imran Khan and other party leaders were once again prevented from meeting him at Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail on Tuesday, as the party railed against the jail administration, claiming it had misled the court regarding power of attorney documents for the former premier and his wife.

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has allowed Imran twice-a-week meetings — on Tuesdays and Thursdays — with his family, lawyers and other associates. Despite the order, the ex-premier has been largely restricted from meeting visitors for several months as the court’s directives have not been implemented.

Imran’s sisters and PTI leaders reached Adiala jail in the morning, but were not allowed to meet the incarcerated former prime minister.

Speaking to reporters outside the jail, Aleema recalled how initially, Imran’s meetings with party leaders were banned, after which family members were also stopped from meeting him.

PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja said a large number of people reached Adiala jail every week, despite pressure and hurdles, and maintained that it was the right of the PTI founder’s family to meet him in prison.

Advocate Awais Younas Chaudhry, who submits the lists of people intending to meet Imran, told Dawn that all the leaders whose names had been provided to the Adiala jail administration, along with Imran’s sisters, reached the jail on Tuesday, but were not allowed to meet the PTI founder.

PTI North Punjab Senior Vice President Malik Yasir Patwali told Dawn that since Adiala jail was located in Punjab, the wing’s president, Malik Taimoor Masood, had ensured that a large number of workers reached the venue at 3:30pm.

“Although it was 7th Muharram on Tuesday, an impressive number of leaders and workers reached outside Adiala jail. We have decided to continue increasing the pressure so that the meeting with Imran is allowed,” he said.

While Imran’s sisters were still sitting outside the jail, party leaders had started leaving late in the evening.

PTI Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram told Dawn that Tuesday’s allocated meeting time ended without Imran Khan’s sisters being permitted to meet him despite prior arrangements.

Power of attorney controversy

In a statement, Akram also condemned what he called the Adiala jail administration’s persistent dissemination of “misleading” claims regarding power of attorney documents for Imran and Bushra Bibi.

A day earlier, the Adiala superintendent had told the IHC that the counsel for the PTI founder and his wife had attempted to mislead the court regarding the signing of the power of attorney in the Al Qadir Trust corruption case, claiming that they had deliberately not received it.

Akram said that Imran’s legal team, comprising Barrister Salman Safdar and others, had made repeated visits to the jail over recent weeks and sent multiple formal communications, including through courier, only to be turned away empty-handed each time.

He said more than 20 power of attorney documents had been sent to the jail administration over the past six months, but no meaningful response was provided until a contempt petition was filed in the IHC on June 15.

“Even then, compliance came merely days before the contempt hearing and was deliberately partial, offering only Imran Khan’s document while withholding Bushra Bibi’s. This selective and belated action was rightly rejected by the legal team,” he said.

Imran — imprisoned since Aug 5, 2023, for concealing details of Toshakhana gifts — is serving a 14-year sentence at Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail in a £190 million corruption case, also known as the Al-Qadir Trust case.

His eye ailment — right central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) — came to light in late January and receives government-provided treatment.

The government and the opposition have been engaged in a blame game, with the latter accusing the former of a lack of transparency in not ensuring appropriate treatment for Imran, and not allowing his personal physicians access to him. The government denies these allegations.

The opposition has also demanded that the former premier be shifted to Shifa International Hospital, be treated in the presence of his personal physicians and allowed to meet his family.