Pakistan’s jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan has claimed that he is being caged like a "terrorist”, and has been denied fundamental prisoner and human rights in a "death cell" at a high-security prison.
The 71-year-old Pakistan-Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party founder made these claims in a rare interview from behind bars with British publication 'The Sunday Times', the Dawn newspaper reported on Sunday.
“I am confined in a 7ft by 8ft death cell, typically reserved for terrorists to ensure they have no contact with anyone,” he told the newspaper.
“It is solitary confinement with barely any space to move. I am under constant surveillance by the agencies, being recorded 24/7, and I am denied basic prisoner and human rights such as visitation,” he said.
The interview was conducted via his lawyers, as — according to the article — he is not allowed a pencil and paper.
Over 200 Cases On Imran Khan
Khan has been imprisoned at the high-security Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi for almost a year upon his conviction in three cases — the Toshakhana corruption case, the cipher case, and the un-Islamic marriage case -- in which his wife, Bushra Bibi, is also jailed.
He faces over 200 cases and has been convicted in a few of them.
Though the former-cricketer-turned-politician had secured bail or his conviction was set aside, he has not been released. Khan was arrested on August 5 last year after his conviction in the first Toshakhana corruption case filed by the Election Commission of Pakistan. Since then, he has been kept in jail in various cases.
After setting aside Khan's conviction in the Iddat (un-Islamic marriage) case earlier this month, the court ruled that he should be released from jail if he is not wanted in another case. But within hours, he was arrested in another Toshakhana case along with his 49-year-old wife Bushra, and both are still in jail.
‘Access To Gym, Kitchen, Walking Gallery’
Responding to reports about Khan's imprisonment conditions, Information Minister Atta Tarar denied he was being held in a death row cell.
“The Sharif family endured harsh conditions, but Imran Khan enjoys presidential suites at Adiala Jail, with access to a gym, kitchen, walking gallery, and luxurious meals,” he said at a press conference.
(With PTI Inputs)
