Party files IHC petition for access to detained leader after ending overnight protest outside Adiala jail
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders staged a sit-in outside the Supreme Court on Friday, demanding access to party founder and former prime minister Imran Khan and highlighting concerns over his medical treatment.
The sit-in followed an overnight protest outside the Adiala jail after the party filed a formal petition in the Islamabad High Court seeking access to the detained leader.
Security at the Supreme Court was beefed up ahead of the PTI leaders’ arrival, with extra staff and prison vans deployed around the complex.
Read: KP CM Sohail Afridi, PTI than Adiala sit-in, approaches courts
PTI Senator Falak Naz Chitrali was among the first to arrive at the Supreme Court, followed by PTI leader Latif Khosa and Senator Mirza Afridi. PTI MPs arrived as additional prison vans were positioned outside under heightened security.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja went to the court to meet Chief Justice Yahya Afridi. When the Chief Justice did not meet them, they held a 10-minute meeting with the Supreme Court Registrar. After this, Raja and Khosa met Attorney General Mansoor Usman.
Addressing the media outside the Supreme Court, Raja said, “We will not be allowed to meet the PTI founder. We also have other options. The PTI founder’s eye surgery was hidden from us. He was taken to the hospital and the correct time was not disclosed.”
Raja said Imran was taken to PIMS Hospital for surgery, which the government denied for five days. “Yesterday Sohail Afridi and other colleagues went to jail. Afridi was on the visitors list but was not allowed to meet him,” he said. “The law requires that a prisoner’s family be informed if he is taken to a hospital. We will sit here until our rights are secured.”
Afridi said the PTI founder was being examined in jail when he fell ill, but his family and lawyers were not informed. “The matter reached PIMS from Adiala but the family remained unaware,” he added.
“The biggest concern is that PIMS Hospital has no retina specialist. We also sat outside Adiala yesterday, met the chief justice and the registrar and we will stay here until we receive a response,” Afridi said.
Amid PTI sloganeering outside the court, Afridi was asked about arrest warrants issued by an Islamabad court. He replied, “I am not aware of what warrants or in what case. I am ready to be arrested. Let someone come and arrest me.”
Raja and Khosa requested access to the PTI founder’s medical reports during their meeting with Attorney General Mansoor Usman. Usman outlined the request forwarding process that the federal government is going through to provide access to Imran Khan’s personal doctors.
About three dozen PTI members remained outside the court premises.
