Jailed former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has claimed that he is being caged like a “terrorist” and is being denied basic prisoner and human rights in the “death cell” of a high-security prison.
The 71-year-old Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party founder made these claims in a rare interview to British publication The Sunday Times from behind prison, the Dawn newspaper reported on Sunday.
“I have been put in a 7-foot by 8-foot death chamber, which is usually reserved for terrorists, to ensure they have no contact with anyone,” he told the paper.
“This is solitary confinement with no space to even move. I am constantly monitored by agencies, I am recorded 24 hours a day and I am denied even basic prisoner and human rights like visits,” he said.
This interview was conducted through his lawyers, because – according to the article – he is not allowed to bring pencil and paper.
Khan has been lodged in Rawalpindi’s high-security Adiala Jail for nearly a year after being convicted in three cases — the Toshakhana corruption case, the Sifar case and the un-Islamic marriage case — in which his wife Bushra Bibi is also jailed.
There are more than 200 cases pending against him and he has been convicted in some of them.
Though the former cricketer-turned-politician has got bail or had his conviction annulled, he has not been released.
Khan was arrested on August 5 last year after being convicted in the first Toshakhana corruption case registered by the Election Commission of Pakistan.
Since then he has been in jail in various cases.
Earlier this month, while quashing Khan’s conviction in the iddat (non-Islamic marriage) case, the court ruled that he should be released from jail if he was not wanted in any other case.
But within hours he was arrested along with his wife Bushra, 49, in another Toshakhana case and both are still in jail.
He has often alleged that he is not treated well in jail, but authorities have so far rejected his claims and allegations.
Reacting to reports about Khan’s prison conditions, Information Minister Atta Tarar denied that he was being held in a death row cell.
“The Sharif family has endured harsh conditions, but Imran Khan is enjoying presidential-level facilities in Adiala Jail, including a gym, kitchen, walking gallery and sumptuous food facilities,” he said at a press conference.
On Saturday, Khan’s wife Bushra had also expressed serious concerns over her husband’s safety in Adiala jail and alleged that he was kept in inhuman conditions and being given contaminated food.
According to Bushra, Khan’s life is in danger as there have been incidents in the past in which he was allegedly poisoned and shot at.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
