Incarcerated former premier Imran Khan has claimed he is being “caged like a terrorist”, and is being “denied basic prisoner and human rights”, British publication The Sunday Times reported.
His remarks came during a rare interview from behind bars with the outlet, conducted via his lawyers, as – according to the article – he is not allowed pencil and paper.
Imran, 71, has been imprisoned at the Adiala Jail for almost a year upon his conviction in three cases – the Toshakhana reference, the cipher case, and the Iddat case, in which his wife, Bushra Bibi, is also jailed.
Imran’s sentence in the Toshakhana reference was suspended on April 1 while he was acquitted by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in the cipher case in June. Various courts have also acquitted him in several other cases filed against him since the events of May 9, 2023 – the day when his first arrest had caused riots across the country, following which the state launched a crackdown against him and his party.
Later, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar slammed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan for claiming that he was imprisoned in a death cell when, in actuality, he was in a “presidential suite”, which is better than a middle-class family’s house.
“You are telling the West that you’re facing troubles, and you’re imprisoned in a death cell. This death cell is a ‘presidential suite’ in Adiala jail, which is better than a middle-class house,” Tarar said during a press conference in Islamabad.
Imran, in an interview with The Sunday Times through his lawyers, claimed that he was imprisoned in a death cell, where “terrorists” are kept to ensure “they have no contact with anyone”.
The 71-year-old cricketer-turned-politician has been in prison for almost a year now in three cases – the Toshakhana case, cipher case, and the un-Islamic marriage case. His wife, Bushra Bibi, is also behind bars.
However, a court suspended his sentence in the Toshakhana case, while other courts overturned his convictions in the cipher and iddat cases, respectively.
While there were hopes for his and Bushra’s release in July, they were dashed when the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) arrested them on fresh charges related to the sale of state gifts.
As Imran remains behind bars, he has kept claiming that he’s not being provided several facilities, but to set the record straight, the government submitted documentary evidence of facilities being provided to the PTI founder in Adiala jail, rebutting his claims that he was being kept in solitary confinement.
The pictures shared with the court showed that the PTI founder was provided with several facilities that a common prisoner cannot imagine – since he’s a former prime minister.
Imran has an exercise bike and stretching belt for physical fitness, books, a separate kitchen, a special menu, an exclusive gallery for a walk, LED, a room cooler, and a study table. In his presser, while referring to the interview, he reminded the people of how a “dictator” Imran would treat his political opponents – regardless of their gender.
“[They knew] Shehbaz Sharif had a pain in his back. Despite that, he was brought in an armoured car and pushed, and it is visible in the footage. Maryam Nawaz was in a 7×8 cell, where she could not even spread the prayer mat properly, she was not even allowed to walk.”
Recalling how former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was treated, Tarar said the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz president’s wife died while he was in prison. He claimed that a fire was lit using wood outside Rana Sanaullah’s jail cell in extremely hot weather.
“These are his words, ‘I will take off the AC and TV, and not give you food, I will not allow them medicines or visits,” Tarar said, reminding the people about what Imran would say about his plans for imprisoned PML-N leaders.
Bannu
Minister for Information, Broadcasting, Culture and National Heritage on Sunday termed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) a ‘terrorist and chaotic’ party which sought nothing but ‘dead bodies’ to get people’s sympathy for political mileage.
“Whenever there was a protest, they (PTI) always look for the dead bodies and tried to get their own people killed for putting the blame on the police, the government and the (local) administration,” the minister said while addressing a news conference.
Their nefarious agenda began with 2014 sit-in which did not end with the May 9 mayhem as they still resorted to hatch conspiracies to derail the system and decimate the economy, Tarar said citing the recent firing in Bannu peace rally arranged by the peaceful traders.
He claimed that the PTI like other political parties became part of the peace rally and some of their members allegedly opened fire during the rally which caused stampede inflicting injuries to many.
The minister rejected the inquiry commission formed by the PTI led government in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa accusing them of their involvement in the incident.
“They hatched a conspiracy and tried to blame the security agencies for the incident. They are uploading pictures of children belonging to another country on the social media and claiming that the people were martyred by direct firing of the security forces,” he noted.
A malicious campaign has been launched in this regard on the social media networking sites to portray a wrong and fabricated story in Bannu, he said, calling the PTI as ‘Tehreek-e-Taliban PTI’ (TTPTI) which, he alleged, was bent upon destabilizing the country by spreading chaos and anarchy.
Tarar said that it was imperative to expose false propaganda being peddled by the ‘Tehreek-e-Intishar’ party which is also known as ‘TTPTI’.
Consulate attack
Attaullah Tarar said that identity of any Pakistani involved in attack on Pakistani Consulate in Germany is being ascertained with the help of videos, adding that if any Pakistani will be found involved in the incident his CNIC will be blocked and passport will be cancelled and strict action will be taken against him. He said that if there will be involvement of any political elements then Imran Khan could not save them. Attatullah Tarar said that he has requested the Chairman NADRA to identify the citizens being seen in video and should identify whether any Pakistan was included or not, whether all the people were citizens of the same country. Information minister said that the disrespect of Pakistani flag is not acceptable at all.
