Khan, a cricketer-turned-politician, has been in jail since August 2023 after being convicted in a web of corruption cases. The government has placed an undeclared ban on the meetings for over one month.
Rumours swirling around Imran Khan, Pakistan’s jailed former Prime Minister, have intensified after his three sisters alleged they were “brutally” assaulted outside Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail by the state machinery for seeking a meeting with their brother. Imran Khan’s sisters – Noreen Niazi, Aleema Khan and Dr Uzma Khan – have claimed that they have not been allowed to meet the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman in over three weeks.
Imran Khan has been a trending topic on social media for two days over unverified claims of his death after a source-based Afghan media report claimed he was killed inside Adiala Jail. The Afghanistan Times report claimed that the 72-year-old leader “succumbed to alleged mistreatment” in custody, and his body was purportedly moved out of the prison facility.
An old photo of Imran Khan in hospital has also gone viral, but those have been dismissed as fake.
Pakistan Debunks Claim
So far, the unsubstantiated and unverified claims have not been confirmed by any credible source. Moreover, the Pakistani government officials have also dismissed the Afghanistan Times report, comparing it with similar reports that were debunked in May about Khan’s supposed killing.
Later, Khan’s sister Aleema Khan and his PTI supporters also called off their sit-in at the Gorakhpur checkpost near Adiala Jail following successful negotiations with the police. According to an ARY News report, police assured them that meetings with the former Prime Minister would be arranged.
The family has now been guaranteed access to Imran Khan later on Thursday and again next Tuesday, prompting the protesters to disperse peacefully.
Khan, a cricketer-turned-politician, has been in jail since August 2023 after being convicted in a web of corruption cases. The government has placed an undeclared ban on the meetings for over one month.
Khan In A “Death Cell”?
Aleema Khan earlier alleged that the former Prime Minister was being held in a “death cell” usually reserved for terrorists.
A lawyer associated with his legal team told the media that even books, essential items, and access to his lawyers are being blocked. “The law of the jungle prevails here, where only the beast who rules has rights. No one else has any rights,” said Khalid Yousaf Chaudry.
Even Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi was not allowed to meet Khan. Afridi made seven consecutive attempts to see him in jail, but he was denied by the jail authorities, whom Khan claims were controlled by an army officer.
