Jail official tenders apology in contempt plea moved by Imran

Jail superintendent refused to let Imran talk to his sons despite court orders

ISLAMABAD:

The superintendent of Adiala jail on Tuesday apologised to the court for refusing to let Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan talk to his sons, despite a court order.

The court established in Islamabad to hear cases related to the Official Secret Act heard a contempt of court petition, filed by Imran’s counsel, for not letting Imran talk to his sons Qasim Khan and Sulaiman Isa Khan.

The senior jail official, while submitting his reply in the court, apologised for not letting the deposed premier talk to his sons.

In his response, he stated that on October 18, special measures were taken to enable the PTI chairman to talk to his children, but there is no permanent facility to make WhatsApp calls to international numbers in prison. He added that the call can be directed through the prison PCO through which other prisoners use to talk to family and lawyers.

However, the IG Prisons issued a letter regarding the protocol for those accused in the Official Secrets Act, and it states that the official PCO facility is not available to those accused under the act.

The superintendent further requested that the court dismiss the contempt case against him as he wasn’t violating a court order.

Earlier, the special court had summoned the Adiala Jail superintendent on Nov 8 for not following its order to allow the PTI chairman to talk with his sons.

Imran, in his petition, stated that contempt of court proceedings should be initiated against the jail official for not following the court orders. “The jail authorities should be ordered to implement the order to allow the PTI chairman to talk to his sons, Kasim and Sulaiman.”

The special court had permitted Imran to talk with his sons on WhatsApp every weekend.

Last month, the Attock jail superintendent objected and hindered compliance with the court's order to allow Imran to speak with his sons over the phone. He had said the prison manual prohibited phone calls for those who were charged under the Official Secrets Act.

However, the judge later ordered the Adiala jail superintendent to enable a telephone conversation between Imran and his sons via WhatsApp, while noting the standard operating procedures for arranging conversations between the accused and their relatives.

The conversation, held via WhatsApp, lasted for 30 minutes and was arranged by the jail superintendent between 4:30pm and 5pm.

The trial against Imran involves allegations of misusing a diplomatic cipher. He is currently detained at Rawalpindi's Adiala jail, having previously been in Attock jail after a conviction in the Toshakhana (gifts repository) case on Aug 5.

Imran was arrested on May 9 by NAB on charges of corruption related to the Al-Qadir Trust. He asserted that the cases against him were fabricated, vowing to prove his innocence.