In letter to Maryam Nawaz, Afridi demands accountability and implementation of Imran’s visitation rights
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, in a letter to his Punjab counterpart Maryam Nawaz, has expressed concern over “rough and inappropriate” treatment meted out to Imran Khan’s sisters during their recent attempt to visit him in Adiala jail.
Afridi reminded Maryam that Imran is a former prime minister and warned that “any deviation from court-mandated procedures in his case, or any disrespectful treatment of his immediate family, becomes a matter of direct institutional concern.
The CM was referring to Tuesday night’s incident where police in Rawalpindi took the sisters of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan into custody. The detention ended a 10-hour sit-in outside Adiala prison. The three sisters, Aleema, Dr. Uzma and Noreen, were transferred to Chakri. The sit-in had been staged near the Factory Checkpoint after the PTI founder and his family members, along with party leaders, were denied permission to meet at the Adiala jail on the day of a planned visit.
In a statement on social media platform X, PTI claimed that the police forcefully detained Imran Khan’s sisters while they were sitting peacefully outside the Adiala Jail.
Read: Aleema Khan talks about alleged police brutality during the Adiala Jail protest
“Clear and binding legal instructions govern Mr. Imran Khan’s visit schedule. Despite the unequivocal nature of these instructions, repeated reports indicate a persistent lack of implementation by the authorities responsible for compliance.”
The Islamabad High Court has issued several orders allowing the chief minister and Imran’s sisters to meet the former prime minister. However, these orders have not been complied with. Afridi himself has been rejected from Adiala seven times.
He condemns the treatment of Imran’s sisters, “Even if there were to be restrictions on political visitors – which is an entirely different category – there is no conceivable legal or administrative basis for obstructing or mistreating immediate family members whose presence is neither political nor disruptive in nature.”
Aleema Khan, Imran’s sister, has claimed that her elder sister was dragged on the road and women lawyers were pushed into police vans. She further claimed that female police officers – whom she referred to as “female Gullu Butts” – were called and one officer, identified as Gulnaz, instructed others to “beat them up.”
Read more: CM Sohail Afridi refused the meeting with Imran despite court orders
She added that her 71-year-old sister, Noreen, was thrown to the ground and dragged, and that the sanctity of women’s veils was violated when 17 female lawyers were placed in a police van and dragged by the hair.
He has demanded that the Punjab government ensure visitation and implementation of all court directives to hold staff accused of “physical abuse” of Imran’s family and KP ministers to account.
He has called for clear instructions to be given to police and prison staff to avoid such incidents in the future and to “establish a transparent mechanism to ensure that all future encounters are facilitated.”
