Pakistan: Imran Khan getting "B-Class" treatment in jail

ISLAMABAD: Former Prime Minister Imran Khan who is incarcerated in Attock Jail after conviction in the Toshakhana case, is being given “B-Class” facilities by the Punjab Prisons Department, his lawyer and Pakistan tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) alleged, Dawn reported on Monday.

The party also alleged that PTI Chairman was not allowed to meet with the lawyers.

“The prison authorities were kept “absolutely in the dark” about the plan to shift Imran Khan to Attock Jail. They were expecting that the former premier would be taken to Adiala Jail but they came to know about the change of plan when the PTI chairman was brought outside the Attock Jail,” Dawn quoted an insider as stating.

Khan’s aide on legal affairs Naeem Haider Panjotha said the prison had been turned into a ‘no-go’ area for his lawyers or local people.

The legal team said they wanted to get in touch with Imran Khan to provide him with clothes, food, and other necessary items and also get his signatures. The authorities did not allow a meeting with the PTI chairman and asked the lawyers to come back on Monday to get power of attorney, Dawn reported.

“We told them that we need to get the power of attorney as well as other documents signed by Mr Khan in order to move various applications and challenge different [court] orders,” one of the lawyers said.

PTI spokesperson Raoof Hasan said that the legal team was not allowed to meet Imran Khan as the jail administration “straight away refused to allow a meeting”, as per Dawn.

Under the B-Class, the PTI chairman is entitled to books, newspapers of choice, a table, a chair, a 21-inch television, a mattress, clothing and jail food, in addition to a bathroom facility in the barrack he has been kept in, the official said. He would not be allowed to get food from outside, according to Dawn.

PTI Chairman has been allowed to get a lamp in case of suspension of electricity supply, besides sanitary and washing facilities.

Meanwhile, a meeting of the PTI core committee chaired by PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi demanded Imran Khan’s immediate release, claiming there were “threats” to his life.

The meeting expressed concerns about keeping the former PM in Attock instead of Adiala Jail and not allowing his legal team to meet him. The committee also questioned why it was the Punjab police that arrested Khan, and not the Islamabad police, Dawn reported.

The PTI leaders also questioned whether Khan’s medical examination was conducted as per legal requirements and if it was then why the reports were not being shared with the party and lawyers.