Key points:
- Imran Khan claims he is being treated like a terrorist and denied basic human rights in jail.
- He alleges confinement in a 7ft by 8ft death cell with strict surveillance.
- Information Minister Attaullah Tarar asserts Khan is kept in a well-facilitated presidential suite.
- Government-provided evidence includes amenities like an exercise bike, kitchen, and study table.
Founder and former Prime Minister of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Imran Khan said he is being denied basic human rights in jail.
The former prime minister, in an interview to a foreign publication, said he was being treated like a terrorist.
This was a rare interview from behind the bars through his lawyers.
“I am confined in a 7ft by 8ft death cell, typically reserved for terrorists to ensure they have no contact with anyone,” he said in the interview given to a foreign publication.
“It is solitary confinement with barely any space to move,” said Imran Khan while adding that he is under strict surveillance all the time.
Imran Khan has spent almost a year in prison over convictions in three cases: the Toshakhana reference, the cipher case, and the Iddat case. His wife, Bushra Bibi, is also behind bars.
Khan was later acquitted in all those cases but was rearrested by the NAB in a fresh Toshakhana case, once again dangling in uncertainty his possible release from prison.
He said in the interview that his party secured a significant majority of approximately 175 seats and not the 93 accepted officially after the Feb 8 elections. According to Imran Khan, he spends most of the time planning for the future as he will be back soon.
“Though condemned to prison, the eyes of the whole nation look up to me for hope and light. My prayers keep me steadfast; more so, my belief in God that justice triumphs over tyranny,” he said.
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, on the flip side, rubbished the reports of PTI founder being kept in the death cell in jail and said that:
“He is being kept in the presidential suite with a lot of facilities including a separate kitchen, exercise machine and a special gallery for walk,” said Tarar, while addressing a press conference on Sunday.
He claimed that Imran Khan was staying at a presidential suite’ in Adiala jail, which is better than a middle-class house.
The government had earlier furnished documentary evidence of facilities being provided to the PTI founder in Adiala jail, rebutting his claims about being kept in solitary confinement.
Pictures shared with the Supreme Court showed that Imran had an exercise bike and stretching belt for keeping himself physically fit, books, a separate kitchen, special menu, exclusive gallery for a walk, LED, a room cooler, and study table.
Also Read: “I Will Not Back Down from My Stance Even If I Spend My Entire Life in Jail” Imran Khan