Islamabad High Court (IHC) has reintroduced two weekly meetings for former Prime Minister and Pakistan Tehreek-E-Insaf (PTI) foundation chairman Imran Khan in Adiala Prison, but also prevented visitors from making political statements after the meetings.
The order, which was released on Monday, allows Imran to meet family and lawyers on Tuesdays and friends on Thursdays. However, only those approved by IMRAN’s coordinator Salman Akram Raja is allowed.
During the hearing, the court expressed concern about visitors who used prison meetings for political messages. Acting Chief Justice Sarfaraz Dogar noted that visitors should “meet and leave,” emphasized medias interviews were unnecessary.
The court ordered visitors to sign a commitment that ensured that they would not make public statements after meetings.
The prison authorities defended previous restrictions with reference to security threats. They said they had consolidated Khan’s meetings for a day instead of two to control risks.
The court rejected the argument and stated that IMRAN’s two weekly visits had already been approved in a previous decision.
Meanwhile, IMRAN’s legal team claimed that planned meetings were arbitrarily denied. His lawyer, Zaheer Abbas, claimed that despite proper requests, a scheduled meeting on March 20 did not take place.
Justice Dogar instructed IMRAN’s attorneys to turn to the trial separately if they wanted permission for his children to visit.
The decision comes in the midst of ongoing legal battles for Imran, who has been in prison since January after being sentenced in corruption cases. His legal status changed from under-court case to convicted prisoner and affected his prison rights.
The prison authorities maintain that meetings must be limited for security reasons. However, the court emphasized that political debates should not be held during or after visits.
Imran’s legal team assured the court that visitors would comply with the new restrictions and clear the way for resuming two weekly meetings.
With the court’s decision, Imran Khan’s supporters and legal teams will now be able to meet him twice a week. However, any violation of the media gagord can lead to further litigation.
Islamabad High Court’s decision is seen as a slight relief to IMRAN’s camp, but restrictions on political statements show the judiciary’s attempt to prevent prison meetings from becoming a platform for political communication.
