PTI challenges govt claims about Imran’s incarceration

ISLAMABAD: Rejecting the government’s claims about Imran Khan as “misleading, fabricated and incorrect”, PTI leaders on Monday painted a sorry picture of the conditions he endures in prison.

Last week, after an interview with Imran’s sons was broadcast during the Lord’s Test, the Ministry of Information issued a detailed statement, which was released on social media and sent to the foreign press.

It claimed that Imran was “not a person held under executive detention” and that he had been incarcerated based on multiple convictions following judicial proceedings, noting that the PTI founder “remains entitled to pursue all remedies available to him under Pakistani law”.

“His imprisonment is governed by the Pakistan Prison Rules, applicable judicial directions and security arrangements appropriate to a high-profile prisoner,” the statement read.

Salman Akram Raja says court orders not being followed; lawyers not allowed to interact with their client even during trial

The information ministry also rejected allegations that Imran was being subjected to “punitive solitary confinement, cruelty or deprivation”, stating that visits, phone calls, reading materials and home-cooked meals, among other amenities, were available to him.

“His accommodation includes an exclusive seven-cell compound with sleeping, sanitation and exercise facilities,” the ministry said.

However, speaking at a press conference on Monday, PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja rejected all the claims.

“The major grievance regarding Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi is that, for the last 15 months since March 2025, there has been a judgement of the Islamabad High Court that Imran and his wife be allowed to meet family members at least twice a week, but it is not being implemented,” he said.

“The court also allowed meetings with lawyers, but they were not allowed. Meetings with Imran’s sisters were also severely restricted and, after October 2025, meetings with his sisters were stopped.

“In November 2025, one sister, Dr Uzma, was allowed to meet Imran. Moreover, the Supreme Court of Pakistan ordered that Imran Khan be shifted to Shifa Interna­tional Hospital, but that order was also not implemented. This amounts to denial of Imran’s rights and the rights of his sisters,” he added.

Mr Raja said nearly 300 cases had been filed against Imran, yet his lawyers were not allowed to meet him.

“Only one lawyer, Salman Safdar, was allowed to meet him, but he did not meet him as Imran Khan’s lawyer; he met him as a court-appointed amicus. So the report stating that Imran Khan has been allowed to meet family and friends is fabricated,” he claimed.

He said contempt petitions had also been filed against the Adiala jail administration for not allowing meetings with lawyers and family members.

“Imran Khan has been in prison since 2023 and several cases against him have been tried within the jail premises. I repeat that from October 2025 to Aug 18, 2026, no meetings [apart from Dr Uzma] with Imran Khan were allowed, so he was in solitary confinement,” he said.

Mr Raja claimed that Imran Khan was not even allowed to talk to anyone in the jail.

“No facility is being given to him to punish him further. Imran has been separated from other co-accused persons and now his trial is being conducted through a video call made through a mobile phone.

“Imran Khan cannot communicate with his lawyers or advise them during trials. If the judge and lawyers went to Adiala jail, they would be able to communicate with Imran Khan, but even that is not being allowed,” he explained.

Sardar Latif Khosa said one of the greatest cricketers of all time was suffering in Pakistan.

Replying to questions, the PTI secretary general said there was unity within the party, contrary to rumours about rifts.

“We urge the Supreme Court to take notice of the disregard of its orders,” he said.

Published in Dawn, September 1st, 2026