By Staff Reporter
RAWALPINDI: The sisters of imprisoned former prime minister Imran Khan made it as far as the main gate of Adiala Jail on Tuesday before prison authorities denied them entry, the family said, in the latest example of the restrictions that have largely prevented the ousted leader from receiving visitors for months even after a court ruling granted him regular access.
Aleema Khan, one of Imran Khan’s sisters, told reporters afterward that the family had bypassed the police checkpoints where they are routinely stopped. This time, she said, they reached the jail’s outer gate and notified officials of their arrival. “Usually, police do not allow us to proceed onward and the jail administration informs the court that we did not arrive because of which the meeting could not be arranged,” she said. “This time we reached outside the gate of Adiala jail and informed them that we are here.”
To document their presence, the sisters made certain their faces were captured on the jail’s closed-circuit television cameras, Aleema Khan said, anticipating that authorities might later claim they had never shown up. She declined to explain how they had managed to advance this far, saying any disclosure would make it harder to do so again. “We could have stayed there but police officials asked us to leave because their jobs would be in danger otherwise,” she added.
The episode highlighted the persistent gap between court directives and actual practice at the high-security prison on the outskirts of Rawalpindi. The Islamabad High Court has explicitly allowed Imran Khan twice-weekly meetings — on Tuesdays and Thursdays — with family members, lawyers and other associates. Yet for several months the former prime minister has remained largely cut off from such visits, his party and family have repeatedly said.
The family has also pressed for medical attention for an eye ailment that emerged earlier this year. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, which Imran Khan founded, has demanded that he be transferred to Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad for proper treatment. In a court-ordered meeting with lawyer Barrister Salman Safdar last week, Khan reported some initial improvement after a first injection but no further progress, Aleema Khan said.
Tuesday’s attempt came days after a protest outside the jail in which 51 PTI workers were arrested. Aleema Khan said efforts were continuing to secure their release. She also offered a sharp critique of the judiciary handling her brother’s case. “Unfortunately, they have appointed judges who cannot make decisions without taking dictation,” she said, without elaborating on who she believed was directing the rulings.
Imran Khan, who was removed from office in a parliamentary no-confidence vote in 2022 and later faced a series of legal cases his supporters call politically motivated, remains incarcerated at Adiala on multiple convictions. His party has long described the restrictions on family visits and medical care as part of a broader effort to sideline him from politics. On Tuesday, after being turned away, the sisters returned to the outer checkpost where police had previously blocked them.
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