FORMER Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan, currently incarcerated in Attock jail in the country's Punjab province, has asked his legal team to secure his release from the prison due to intolerable living conditions.
The 70-year-old, convicted of corruption related to the Toshakhana case and handed a three-year sentence recently, expresses dissatisfaction and concern about his confinement. He was arrested following a guilty verdict by an Islamabad trial court for engaging in "corrupt practices" in the mentioned case. Khan has initiated an appeal against his conviction at the Islamabad high court.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman has asked his legal team that he does not wish to remain in prison, Geo News quoted sources in the Attock jail privy to the meeting between Khan and his lawyer as saying.
"Take me out of here; I don't want to remain in jail," the officials quoted Khan, as saying.
The former premier's counsel Naeem Haider Panjotha was granted access by the jail authorities Monday (7) to meet him, who after seeing the PTI chairman said that the former premier was being kept in "distressing" conditions provided “C-Class jail facilities”.
Panjotha said that Khan was in high morale despite all such difficulties and vowed to spend his lifetime in jail but wouldn't bow to slavery.
The charges against Khan involve his alleged misuse of his 2018-2022 premiership to trade gifts in state possession acquired during foreign visits, amounting to over Rs 140 million (approximately £382,060). Khan, however, firmly denies these allegations.
His party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, which he chaired and led, contests the trial court's ruling through legal channels.
They aim to declare the verdict as null and void. Additionally, they sought Khan's transfer from Attock jail to Adiala jail in Rawalpindi in Punjab, appealing to Islamabad High Court's Chief Justice Aamer Farooq.
Khan's detainment has prompted a security audit of Attock jail's personnel after suspicions arose about a potentially encrypted conversation between Khan and a jail official. The recorded dialogue contains indecipherable terms, prompting the jail administration to initiate security clearance procedures for over 150 prison staff. To enhance security, WhatsApp use by jail staff has been prohibited following geofencing implementation.
Attock jail, established in 1906 and typically housing more than 1,000 inmates, currently detains over 700 prisoners. Amidst security concerns, a proposal is being considered to relocate more than 100 prisoners to Adiala and other correctional facilities.
Khan's imprisonment has brought into focus the dire conditions of the prison system, sparking a broader discussion about the treatment of detainees and the state of correctional institutions in Pakistan.
(With agency inputs)
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