Emotional exchange as Imran speaks to his sons from Adiala Jail
PTI Chief Imran Khan pictured with sons Qasim and Sulaiman. FILE: PHOTO
Former prime minister Imran Khan was finally able to call his sons, Kasim and Sulaiman, from Rawalpindi's Adiala Jail on Saturday.
The WhatsApp conversation lasted for 30 minutes.
According to sources, the jail superintendent arranged the call between 4:30pm and 5pm. During the interaction, Imran's sons, who live in the United Kingdom with their mother, became emotional. However, the former prime minister remained composed and consoled them while wearing a smile.
On Oct 18, a special court that is holding the trial of the former prime minister under the Official Secrets Act, 1923 for allegedly misusing a diplomatic cipher, ordered the authorities for the second time to allow Imran to have a telephonic conversation with his sons.
Special Court Judge Abual Hasnat Muhammad Zulqarnain issued this order while hearing an application filed by the former premier through his counsel, Shiraz Ahmed Ranjha.
Imran is currently detained at Rawalpindi's Adiala Jail. He was previously incarcerated at Attock Jail after his conviction in the gifts repository case on Aug 5.
The Attock Jail superintendent had refused to comply with the same court's order to allow Imran to talk to his sons.
The official had argued that the PTI chief was charged under the Official Secrets Act, and those charged under this law are not allowed to make phone calls, according to the jail manual.
On Wednesday, the court remarked that the Adiala Jail superintendent had not sent the standard operating procedures (SOPs) for arranging a telephonic conversation between an accused and his relatives.
"Let's discuss the matter once the SOPs are received.”
Imran's counsel, however, raised an objection to this delay in providing the SOPs.
Subsequently, Judge Zulqarnain ordered the jail superintendent to facilitate a telephone conversation between Imran and his sons via WhatsApp.
On May 9, the former prime minister was arrested from inside the high court in Islamabad by the National Accountability Bureau on the charges of corruption in connection with the Al-Qadir Trust, which he owns.
Since then, he was incarcerated at Attock District Jail and recently shifted to Adiala Jail.
Imran claims that he has been jailed in forged cases, vowing to come clean in all of them.