The Punjab Home Department on Saturday categorically denied a report published in UK online newspaper The Independent about the "inhumane" treatment being meted out to PTI Patron-in-Chief Imran Khan and his spouse Bushra Bibi during their incarceration, stating that both husband and wife were "receiving full legal entitlements".
While speaking to the British newspaper, Zulfiqar Ali Bukhari, a close aide to Imran, said the PTI founding chairman and his wife had been subjected to "psychological" torment in prison. Bibi was "gravely ill", he said, and "fainted in prison" due to the heat nearly two weeks ago.
Bukhari told The Independent that even the water supplied to Bibi for ablutions had "got mud and sand and dirt inside of it, purposely."
In January, Khan and Bibi were sentenced to 14 and seven years in prison, respectively, in the £190 reference.
Responding to the article, the Punjab Home department stated that both Khan and Bibi were receiving "full legal entitlements" in jail.
In a statement, it termed the claims made in the British online newspaper as "baseless, politically charged and factually incorrect".
The Punjab Home department maintained that both Khan and Bibi had been provided Class-A jail facilities and had access to uninterrupted electricity without any load-shedding. The department added that they undergo daily medical check-ups and receive full medical support.
The statement further noted that food was being served in line with their personal preferences, while legal and family visits were allowed in accordance with court orders. Both detainees have remained in the same cell since their arrival and have not been moved or isolated, it said.
Terming the report an attempt to "mislead global audiences," the Punjab Home department emphasised that Pakistan upholds prisoner rights in line with legal and humanitarian standards.
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