Aleema challenges PTI founder Imran Khan's 'solitary confinement' before IHC

ISLAMABAD: Aleema Khan has challenged the alleged solitary confinement of her brother, PTI founder Imran Khan, before the Islamabad High Court (IHC), describing his detention conditions as unlawful and inhumane, it emerged on Saturday. The petition, filed through Barrister Salman Safdar, names the Adiala jail superintendent, the inspector general of prisons, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) director general and the executive director of Pims as respondents. According to the petition, during a lawyers’ meeting held on April 8, it emerged that Imran had been kept in solitary confinement for 22 hours a day, while his wife, Bushra Bibi, was allegedly confined in isolation for 24 hours a day. The petition further contended that no member of Imran’s family or the PTI leadership had been allowed to meet him for the past six months. It also argued that no judicial order had authorised solitary confinement as part of his sentence, making the continued isolation unlawful. Aleema claimed that her brother was being subjected to inhumane treatment and informed his legal counsel that his eyesight had deteriorated significantly, with approximately 85 per cent of his vision allegedly affected. The petition maintained that solitary confinement was among the harshest forms of punishment and cannot be imposed without legal authority. The petitioner further requested the IHC to declare Imran’s alleged solitary confinement illegal and direct the authorities to end the practice. Recently, a petition was filed in the IHC by Bushra’s daughter, Mubashra Khawar Maneka, against the alleged solitary confinement of her mother. Imran — imprisoned since Aug 5, 2023, for concealing details of Toshakhana gifts — is serving a 14-year sentence at Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail in the £190m case, also known as the Al-Qadir Trust case. An accountability court in Islamabad had sentenced Imran and Bushra to 14 and seven years in prison, respectively, on