ISLAMABAD:
A letter has been addressed both to Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi and Islamabad High Court (IHC) Acting Chief Justice Sarfraz Dogar on behalf of former prime minister Imran Khan to bring to their attention “the continuing disregard by the authorities of the law and the Constitution”.
It said Imran Khan is presently facing over two hundred “frivolous cases” all across the country. These cases, it said, are nothing but abuse of the criminal justice system in order to keep the PTI founder behind bars.
It said the role attributed to Imran in these cases is of the instigator of various alleged offences relatable to political protests. While Imran Khan has been granted bail in the overwhelming majority of these cases, bail applications in a small number of cases are not being decided, for one reason or the other.
“From the foregoing, it is clear that Mr Imran Khan, who is the undisputed premier leader of the Pakistani nation, is being kept in prison as a matter of misguided strategy,” it said.
Referring to the ongoing tensions with India, the letter said Imran Khan alone can bind the entire nation, from Karachi to Khyber, to a common purpose. “All that stands between Mr Imran Khan and his liberty is the determination of bail applications and suspension of convictions in about a dozen cases,” it said.
It said the treatment meted out to Imran Khan at Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail continues to remain subject to the whims of the authorities, “whoever they might be”.
Despite court orders, Imran Khan is not allowed weekly telephonic conversations with his sons. He has been allowed to speak with his sons twice over the last four months.
Books that are brought for him by family and friends are not provided to him, often for several weeks. Imran Khan is also not allowed meetings with his wife as per the jail manual.
It said his access to two newspapers, in accordance with the jail manual, is repeatedly interrupted as part of a scheme of harassment. He has at times been subjected to long periods of solitary confinement in his small cell.
The letter claimed that for the past two years, Imran Khan has been subjected to trial within the jail premises, and not in the open courtrooms in the various judicial complexes set up by the state.
Access to the ad hoc courtroom set up in prison was provided to his family and wife Bushra Imran after intervention by a division bench of the IHC. “However, the general public is still unable to witness the trials to which Mr Imran Khan has been subjected.”
According to the letter, a small number of individuals are arbitrarily carted into the jail courtroom at every hearing. It claimed that these individuals are “handpicked” and that to label them as “the general public” constitutes a mockery of the right to an open trial.
“Similarly, a small number of selected journalists are allowed to be present in an enclosed area, thirty yards from the presiding judge. It is clear that these journalists cannot observe the trial in any meaningful sense.
“Over the last two months, the hearing dates in the trials that are underway have been arbitrarily adjourned. This has resulted in Mr Imran Khan not being able to engage with his lawyers, family, the co-accused and the selected journalists allowed access to the jail courtroom.”
It said this denial of access is a part of a strategy that is aimed at isolating Imran Khan. This strategy, it said, has also been given effect by an arbitrary denial of Imran’s right to meet with his family, lawyers and friends in accordance with various orders of the IHC.
The letter also discussed “the unrestrained violence” committed against a protest rally of the PTI on 26 November 2024. It reiterated claims that live rounds were fired on unarmed protesters resulting in a large number of fatalities and injuries.
“The use of excessive force by the state authorities has been duly noted and recorded by credible human rights associations and activists, apart from journalists and political workers who were present on the day.
“The foregoing, is a summary of some of the most egregious attacks on the Constitution and the legal order over the last nearly three years. Today, the nation needs belief in the decency of the state.
“The people need to be assured that they matter as human beings. We need to come together and heal our wounds. The instant letter is a plea for action,” it added.
#Imran #bind #nation
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