ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani government submitted details of former prime minister Imran Khan’s living conditions in prison to the Supreme Court on Thursday, which included pictures of his cell in the central jail in the eastern Rawalpindi city where Khan claims he is being kept in solitary confinement.
The report was submitted by deputy attorney general of Pakistan, Raja Muhammad Shafqat Abbasi, during a hearing of the Supreme Court. The Pakistani top court was hearing a case related to anti-graft law amendments in which Khan is a petitioner. The former cricket star remains jailed in Rawalpindi’s central prison on corruption charges and is fighting dozens of other cases that he and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party says are politically motivated to block his return to power.
In an interview last month to international media organization Zeteo, Khan claimed he was being kept in a “death cell” in Rawalpindi where he was being denied basic rights of a prisoner, accusing authorities of employing psychological tactics to break him. During a hearing of the same case last week, Khan told Pakistan’s Supreme Court via video link authorities were not allowing him to meet his lawyers and that he was not being material to prepare for the case.
Pictures released by the government on Thursday showed a bedroom with a study table, a chair, a single bed, a cooler, a washbasin next to a washroom in the corner and a flat TV screen hung on a wall. Another picture showed what the government says is a separate kitchen with condiments while another showed a collection of books on Islam, history and politics. One of the books in the pictures is the Nelson Mandela autobiography, “Long Walk To Freedom.”
In other pictures, one can see another room in the prison that contains an exercise bike and fitness equipment for Khan’s use. The government also submitted a list of names of family members, party leaders and lawyers the former prime minister met since August 2023 in prison, media reports said.
“It’s a contradiction to the claim that a former Prime Minister is entitled to an ‘A’ class cell with an air-conditioned room and a helper to attend to the errands,” Khan’s PTI party wrote on social media platform X.
The party pointed out Khan had never complained about being kept in a facility that does not have access to natural light or a window.
“However, it goes to show how govt machinery fibbed about all this time, having him kept in a cell costing above a million each month,” the party said, referring to an earlier report by the Rawalpindi jail superintendent in April that said jail security measures were costing the government Rs1.2 million [$4,300] per month.
Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari said the government had showed the “reality” of the prison cell where Khan was incarcerated.
“He [Khan] has an old habit of telling lies and defrauding the people,” Bokhari told reporters at an event. “Which is why the truth was submitted today in court.”
