Pakistan ex-PM Imran kept in bug-infested jail cell, given C-class facilities: Report

Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan has been kept in a small bug-infested cell with an open washroom in the high-security Attock jail after his conviction and arrest in a corruption case. Khan’s attorney Naeem Haider Panjotha said that the 70-year-old Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman has been provided C-class facilities in the jail in Punjab province. He said the jail cell where the former captain of the country’s world cup winning cricket team is being held was infested with flies and bugs. He is in a small room which has an open washroom, Panjotha said after meeting Khan in prison on Monday. “The PTI chairman says he is ready to spend his whole life in jail,” the lawyer was quoted as saying by Geo News. Panjotha said Khan told him that police did not show him an arrest warrant and tried to break the door of his wife’s room when they were at his home in Lahore. He met Khan for one hour and 45 minutes in the presence of a jail official to get his signatures on legal paper for launching appeals against the former premier’s conviction. The lawyer told the media that Khan informed him that he has been kept in a dark room with an open toilet, frequented by flies during the day and ants at night. ‘‘I have been kept in a dark room with no television or newspaper available. Nobody is allowed to meet me as if I am a terrorist,” Panjotha quoted Khan as saying. Khan was arrested from his home in Lahore on Saturday shortly after an Islamabad trial court found him guilty of “corrupt practices” in the Toshakhana corruption case and sentenced him to three years in jail. He was shifted to Attock jail in the city of Attock in Punjab province, despite the court order directing authorities that he be sent to Adiala prison in Rawalpindi. The court ruling on Saturday came as a blow to Khan and has put his political future in jeopardy. The verdict came as Pakistan is heading for general elections later this year, with the current National Assembly set to complete its term on 12 August. The cricketer-turned-politician has been accused of illegally selling state gifts for profit worth USD 497,500. Khan has denied wrongdoings, saying he legally bought the gifts from Toshakhana, a government-owned treasure house. This is the second time in three months that Khan has been arrested. Earlier, he was arrested on 9 May in Islamabad from the high court’s premises in the Al-Qadir Trust corruption case, sparking violent protests by his supporters. Khan faces more than 140 cases across the country and charges like terrorism, violence, blasphemy, corruption and murder.