ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi has filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court this week alleging that authorities were violating her fundamental rights during her incarceration at the Islamabad home of her husband where she has been jailed since being convicted in January for graft.
Bushra has been living under house arrest at her husband’s sprawling Bani Gala mansion, declared a sub-jail, in Islamabad since Jan. 31 when both were sentenced to 14 years in prison in a case that relates to accusations they undervalued gifts from a state repository and gained profits from selling them while Khan was prime minister from 2018-22. Khan is jailed at Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail.
In February, Khan and his wife were also sentenced to seven years on charges they violated the country’s marriage law when they wed in 2018 — the fourth sentence so far for Khan and the second for his wife.
In her petition to the court filed on Monday, Bushar, a deeply religious woman widely believed to be Khan’s spiritual guide, alleged she was being poisoned through contaminated food and subjected to “mental and physical torture which is becoming a serious threat to her health and life.”
“She experienced severe gut pain and a burning sensation in her throat and mouth. She suspects that she has been given some sort of acid in her meal,” the petition read.
“That the sub-jail is predominantly male heavy, with only one female associate at her disposal … It is clearly a form of mental harassment. She has voiced this concern, but it hasn’t been given much attention.”
She also alleged that her room and bathroom had been bugged and multiple hidden cameras installed.
“It is a blatant violation of her privacy, dignity and honor,” the plea said.
The petition said Bushra was only given ten minutes for meetings with family members and lawyers, with five jail staff supervising at all times.
The petitioner requested the court to allow Bushra’s medical check-up and treatment from Shaukat Khanam Memorial Hospital, or any other private medical specialist or lab of her own choice. She also urged the court to order authorities to ensure the protection of her fundamental rights.
Khan was first jailed after being handed a three-year prison sentence in August 2023 by the Election Commission for not declaring assets earned from selling gifts worth more than 140 million rupees ($501,000) in state possession and received during his premiership. In January, Khan and Bushra were handed 14-year jail terms following a separate investigation by the country’s top anti-graft body into the same charges involving state gifts.
An anti-graft court in Islamabad also handed Khan a 10-year jail term in January for revealing state secrets, a week before national elections on Feb. 8. The ruling on his marriage to Bushra and a seven-year sentence each for both also came ahead of the polls.
Khan has also been indicted under Pakistan’s anti-terrorism law in connection with violence against the military that erupted following his brief arrest related to the Al-Qadir case on May 9. A section of Pakistan’s 1997 anti-terrorism act prescribes the death penalty as maximum punishment. Khan has denied the charges under the anti-terrorism law, saying he was in detention when the violence took place.
Khan’s convictions mean he is banned from holding public office and ruled the 71-year-old out of general elections earlier this year. Arguably Pakistan’s most popular politician, Khan says all cases against him are motivated to keep him out of politics.
