RAWALPINDI:
Former prime minister Imran Khan was allowed on Tuesday to meet his lawyer, Ali Bukhari, while his wife Bushra Bibi met her daughter and sister-in-law at Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail where the couple is detained.
However, Imran’s three sisters — Aleema Khan, Uzma Khan and Noreen Niazi — were denied access, prompting them to stage a protest late into the night at a local roadside restaurant. Police later cracked down and detained six PTI workers. However, it was later reported that police assured Imran’s sisters they would be allowed to meet him today (Wednesday).
Ali Bukhari, speaking to the media after the meeting outside the jail, said the PTI founder remains steadfast despite solitary confinement.
Bukhari said six names had been submitted to authorities for permission to meet Imran but only he was allowed to meet the former premier.
He also noted that his client has been denied access to newspapers and television, and was not even allowed to meet his wife.
According to him, Imran insisted that “the sun of justice will rise” and urged supporters not to lose courage.
Separately, Aleema Khan told reporters at the Police Factory checkpoint that warrants had been issued against her and she had not sought bail.
“Our brother is inside; arrest us too,” she said, adding that the authorities were not concerned about Pakistan or the PTI founder. She demanded answers about May 9, 2023 rioting incidents.
“Bring the CCTV footage — were cameras not installed at such major institutions [attacked on that day]? Those who stole the footage are the ones who set the buildings on fire.
“Why should we apologize? It is they who must apologize to the PTI founder. This injustice must end; the system cannot continue like this,” she added.
Meanwhile, PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja also lashed out at the authorities, saying that court verdicts against PTI leaders in May 9 cases rested only on the testimony of two policemen who claimed to have entered Zaman Park wearing “invisibility caps”.
Speaking to the media near Adiala Jail, he said the PTI founder had been kept in solitary confinement for four weeks in defiance of an order of the Islamabad High Court. He called the cases part of a conspiracy to implicate the PTI founder, demanding transparent investigations.
“On the basis of two policemen’s testimony, parliamentarians are being handed ten-year sentences and their properties confiscated. Even the British during the freedom movement did not commit such excesses,” Raja said.
He revealed that Imran had directed the party not to contest by-elections on vacant seats.
“Some leaders believe we should participate, but for us, his word is final. Without meeting him, further consultation is not possible,” he added, noting that since March 25 family and lawyers have been denied meetings with the PTI founder.
