Khan was arrested and sent to jail for three years following his conviction in a corruption case by a court in Islamabad.
By Published On 7 Aug 2023
Jailed former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party says it is concerned about his safety and security in prison, where “his life is under threat”.
Khan, 70, was arrested and sent to jail for three years following his conviction in a corruption case by a court in capital Islamabad on Saturday.
Shah Mehmood Qureshi, vice chairman of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, told Al Jazeera the former prime minister is not being allowed to meet his lawyers for the last two days.
He said the party leadership is “extremely concerned” about Khan’s wellbeing.
“Our priority is Khan’s safety and security. We have reasons to believe his life is under threat and I urge the country’s higher courts to take notice and we do hope that justice will prevail,” Qureshi, also a former foreign minister of Pakistan, told Al Jazeera.
Qureshi said the jail in Punjab province where Khan was imprisoned did not have adequate facilities that must be granted to him due to his stature as an ex-premier.
“Khan has not been given his rights as a prisoner. We are facing challenges in gaining access to him. We don’t know what kind of food is he being given, we don’t know how is he being treated there,” he said.
“The court order was to transfer him to Adiala jail but instead he was taken to Attock prison, and nobody has explained to us why that is so,” he said, referring to the two jails in Punjab province.
Attock is situated 100km (62 miles) north of the garrison town of Rawalpindi in Punjab. Pakistani authorities have not given any clarification for the change in jail so far.
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