PTI leaders denied meeting with Imran Khan at Adiala jail despite court order

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leaders who went to Adiala jail on Thursday to meet party founder Imran Khan said they were once again not allowed to see the jailed former prime minister, despite an Islamabad High Court order permitting twice-weekly meetings.

The IHC has allowed the incarcerated ex-premier to meet family members, lawyers and other associates on Tuesdays and Thursdays. However, he has remained unable to receive visitors for several months. A day earlier, PTI had submitted a list of six leaders to jail authorities and requested arrangements for a meeting. The names on the list were Seemabia Tahir, Usman Jora, Asad Abbas, Malik Yasir Patwali, Malik Azeem and Rohail Anjum.

PTI leaders describe failed visit

Malik Yasir Patwali said the nominated leaders reached the prison before 2pm and informed the administration that they had come in line with the IHC directions. He said jail officials told them a message was being sent for approval, recorded their video footage and asked them to wait.

Speaking about the visit, Patwali said:

"We informed the prison administration that we had been nominated for the meeting, as per the directions of the IHC, but we were told that a message was being sent for approval,"

He added that they remained there until the 4pm cutoff time but were not granted access to Imran Khan.

Patwali said he would coordinate with lawyers to move a contempt petition. He said he could not file it himself because his own name was included in the list submitted for the meeting. In remarks directed at the government, he said:

"So the government should be ready to face the brunt."

Seemabia Tahir said police did not allow PTI leaders to move close to Adiala jail and instead instructed them to park their vehicles by the roadside. She said the group recorded its protest before leaving. Tahir also called for Khan to be shifted to Shifa International Hospital for medical treatment.

Party criticism on other issues

Separately, PTI Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram criticised the government over what he described as pre-poll pressure ahead of elections in Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir. He alleged that central PTI leaders were facing name-based profiling, movement restrictions and denial of no-objection certificates, while election authorities, the administration and police were pressuring candidates to leave the party.

Akram said similar methods were being used in AJK to push PTI aside and warned that such steps in sensitive regions could create long-term divisions. He also claimed the party was in a position to secure a majority there.

He further criticised the delay in the presentation of the federal budget, calling it a sign of economic weakness and alleging that the country’s fiscal decisions were being tightly controlled by the International Monetary Fund. He also alleged that differences between the PPP and PML-N over provincial funds and agricultural taxes were meant to mislead the public while both parties were working together on economic policy.

Background to jail access dispute

Imran Khan has been imprisoned since Aug 5, 2023, after a case related to concealing details of Toshakhana gifts. He is serving a 14-year sentence at Adiala jail in the £190 million corruption case, also known as the Al-Qadir Trust case.

Earlier this week, Khan’s sister Aleema Khan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi also went to the prison but were denied a meeting. Speaking to the media outside the jail at the time, Aleema said it was their constitutional right to meet him and said she would keep visiting Adiala to maintain pressure on what she called the powers that be.