Former Pak PM Imran Khan's party leaders to protest outside Islamabad HC

Peshawar: All parliamentarians of former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan's party would lodge a massive protest outside the Islamabad High Court on Tuesday demanding the release of their incarcerated leader from Adiala Jail, a top party leader said Sunday.

Chief Minister of Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Sohail Afridi, announced that after the protest demonstration outside the Islamabad High Court (IHC), party leaders will visit their incarcerated leader at the high-security jail in Rawalpindi.

Khan, 73, has been lodged at the Adiala Jail in connection with multiple cases since 2023 after he was first arrested in August that year.

Addressing a press conference here at the CM House, Afridi said that Khan, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder, has been kept in “complete isolation” since November 4, and no one has been allowed to meet him.

Neither Khan’s sisters, nor party leadership, nor lawyers, nor doctors are being permitted access, effectively placing him in full solitary confinement, he said, calling the situation “highly alarming.” Afridi announced that on Tuesday, all parliamentarians would first go to the IHC to hold a strong protest in front of the court's chief justice, as despite his orders, the chief minister was not allowed to meet Khan.

"It is a clear contempt of court. We will lodge a protest demonstration at the IHC," Afridi said.

The parliamentarians will then proceed to the Adiala jail to meet Khan, and in solidarity with his leader's sisters.

Khan's sister Aleema Khan on November 28 filed a contempt of court petition in the IHC against the Adiala Jail superintendent and others for not being allowed to meet her brother.

She filed the petition in Afridi's presence. The petition referred to the IHC’s March 24 order, in which the court had reinstated the twice-a-week meeting schedule for the 73-year-old former prime minister.

In a social media post on Friday evening, Khan's son Kasim Khan demanded proof from the government that his father was alive.

“We demand proof of Imran Khan's life,” Kasim Khan said after speculations were rife that the cricketer-turned-politician had been killed in prison since neither his family members nor his lawyers and party men have been allowed to see him for about a month.

On Thursday, rejecting rumours on social media about Khan's medical condition, Adiala Jail authorities said he is in “completely good health inside Adiala Jail.” “The PTI leadership has been informed regarding Imran Khan’s health. All necessary care is being provided to the PTI chief,” the Adiala Jail administration said in a statement issued.

Both Aleema and Afridi were part of the 16-hour-long sit-in that began on November 27 and ended early on November 28 when they were not allowed to meet Khan.

Afridi replaced Ali Amin Ganadapur as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister last month and announced that his first priority was to get the former cricketer-turned-politician out of jail.

The PTI has demanded that the government lift the undeclared ban on Khan's meetings and immediately arrange a meeting between the former premier and his family.