Imran Khan is being 'mentally tortured' in 'C-class' facility in Adiala jail, says lawyer

Days after ex-Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan was shifted to the Adiala jail, his lawyer alleged that the Chairman of  Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is being “mentally tortured” inside the jail premises. According to the Pakistani news outlet Ary News, ex-PM and the party’s main lawyer Naeem Hairder Panjotha claimed that Khan is being kept in a “C-class jail” with little to no amenities. Panjotha made these proclamations on Saturday, insisting the cricketer-turned-politician is not allowed to come out of his “extremely small” room even for a walk. 

The 70-year-old politician is serving a prison sentence after a trial court in Islamabad convicted him in the infamous Toshakhana case. According to Ary News, Khan’s lawyer said that he even doubts the quality of the food which is being provided to the former premiere. Urging an open trial in the Cypher case, Panjotha questioned the in-camera hearing in the case. 

On Saturday, Khan’s PTI rejected the challan ordered by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). The party demanded the formation of a  judicial commission to investigate the matter. The party claimed that the challan issued against the chairman and vice chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi is “as meaningless and bogus as the cypher case,” Ary News reported. 

Khan and Qureshi named the ‘principal accused’ in the Cypher Case

PTI's reaction came after FIA filed a challan in the Special Court, declaring both Qureshi and Khan as the “principal accused” in the cypher case. According to Dawn, the FIA invoked the challan under sections 5 and 9 of the Official Secrets Act. If found guilty the two politicians may face 14 years of imprisonment or even a death sentence. 

As per the Pakistani news outlet, other suspects in the case, including former principal secretary Azam Khan and former federal minister Asad Umar were placed in column 2 of the challan. However, the names of the accused listed in this column were not presented to the Special Court established under the Official Secrets Act. While the investigation agency cited 27 witnesses in the challan, a source close to the body told Dawn that about a dozen of them would be produced in the witness box.