ISLAMABAD: PTI accused police of subjecting its workers to violence and arresting them near Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail on Tuesday.
The IHC has allowed Imran twice-a-week meetings — on Tuesday and Thursdays — with his family, lawyers and other associates. Despite the order, the ex-premier has not been allowed any visitors for weeks, including his sisters and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi.
Therefore, protests and sit-ins near the Adiala jail, where Imran has been incarcerated since September 2023, have become a usual occurrence on Tuesdays and Thursdays. On several occasions, police have also used force to disperse the protesters, who often camp at Factory Naka — a police picket near the prison.
Imran’s sisters and supporters again staged a sit-in near the prison today while a PTI post on social media platform alleged that police had inflicted violence on party workers and arrested them as well.
A livestream on the PTI’s YouTube channel showed another of Imran’s sisters, Aleema Khanum, surrounded by party workers and supporters, including children, sitting on the ground and shouting slogans.
However, videos posted by PTI leader Aliya Hamza Malik from earlier in the evening showed men, appearing to be policemen, detaining people. Malik claimed in her post on X that lawmaker Mehar Abdul Sattar, along with party workers, had been arrested.
A video posted by Punjab Assembly Opposition Leader Moeen Riaz Qureshi showed a large contingent of police riot gear. The caption said “a large contingent of police is approaching”.
In a subsequent post, he said police had dispersed PTI workers.
PTI to file another contempt plea
Earlier, PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja was at the Islamabad High Court to initiate the process of filing yet another contempt of court petition against Adiala jail authorities for repeatedly denying party leaders permission to meet PTI founder Imran Khan.
Announcing his party’s plans again moving the court against jail authorities, Raja said while speaking to reporters on the court premises that this would be the “sixth contempt petition” filed on the matter.
The PTI and Imran’s sisters both have previously filed contempt petitions against Adiala jail authorities over non-compliance with the IHC order.
Today, Raja said while speaking to reporters at the IHC that he was at the court to file “another contempt of court petition” over what he deemed was “continued and deliberate non-compliance with court orders”.
“This is not the first time; this is the sixth contempt petition,” Raja said, adding that despite clear judicial directions, prison officials had consistently obstructed access to the PTI founder.
“No constitution prevents a prisoner from speaking, and the jail rule being cited to restrict meetings is itself unconstitutional,” he asserted, without specifying which rule he was referring to.
Raja maintained that while incarceration lawfully curtailed a person’s physical freedom, it did not “extinguish fundamental rights altogether”.
The PTI leader said while a prisoner’s freedom was taken away, they could not be deprived of their capability to think and speak.
“When someone goes to meet a prisoner, he can say whatever comes to his mind. There is no law that allows the state to censor thought or speech in this manner,” the PTI leader added.
Raja alleged that restrictions on meetings with Imran were “not administrative but political in nature”, aimed at “silencing the former premier and controlling the political narrative”.
“An attempt is being made to hide the hollowness of the system,” he said, further alleging that authorities were trying to bury what he described as the “lie of February 8” — seemingly a reference to the 2024 general elections, which the PTI has repeatedly alleged were rigged.
He alleged that efforts were being made to hide that “people’s vote was robbed”, further accusing the state of “sending a message of submission” to the public. “They are telling the people that your destiny is only subjugation, that your vote and your voice have no value,” he said, without naming anyone.
Raja further alleged that the continued denial of meetings with Imran was intended to create an atmosphere of fear and helplessness.
“They are giving the people the impression that the freedom of your leaders is at our mercy,” he said, adding that such actions struck at the heart of democratic norms and constitutional guarantees.
Raja described Imran Khan as the country’s most popular political leader and claimed that those in power were unnerved by his influence even from behind bars.
“The founder of PTI is the biggest leader in the country, and today they are scared and terrified,” he said. “Their aim is to silence the voice of the founder of PTI.”
