Aleema Khan, sister of Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan, reportedly moved the Islamabad High Court on Thursday, challenging his “prolonged solitary confinement” at Adiala Jail, describing it as illegal and a violation of fundamental rights, according to Dawn newspaper.
In a writ petition, Khan alleged that no court had sentenced her brother to solitary confinement in either the Al-Qadir Trust case or the Toshakhana-II case. She accused the jail authorities of keeping him in isolation for nearly 22 hours daily over the past six months without any legal permit.
The petition referenced the Pakistan Penal Code and the Pakistan Prisons Rules, stating that solitary confinement could only be awarded by a court and could not exceed 14 days at a time. It described the isolation as “patently illegal, devoid of lawful authority, and amounting to inhuman and degrading treatment.”
The petition also stated that the former Prime Minister lost 85 per cent of his vision in the right eye due to an ailment for which he had been taken to the PIMS Hospital around four times. However, the authorities allegedly did not inform his family members or his legal counsel about the nature of his disease or the treatment being provided.
The petition read, “Despite repeated injections, there has been no improvement in his eyesight, and he has not been formally admitted to any hospital for proper diagnosis.”
According to the petition, Imran Khan had told his counsel during court-mandated meetings that his wife, Bushra Bibi, was also being kept in solitary confinement for 24 hour daily at the same jail.
It requested the court to rule “the solitary confinement and incommunicado detention” of the leader “illegal, unlawful, without lawful authority.”
Dawn also reported that members of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party were denied a meeting with him on Thursday despite the Islamabad High Court allowing twice-weekly meetings on Tuesdays and Thursdays with his family, lawyers, and associates. The party secretary general had submitted a list of six party leaders to the jail authorities for a meeting on Thursday, as per court procedures, but were not approved of the sessions.
