Imran's solitary detention challenged

Aleema Khan, sister of former prime minister and PTI founder Imran Khan, on Thursday approached the Islamabad High Court (IHC) against his "unlawful and prolonged solitary confinement" at Central Jail Adiala, Rawalpindi, alleging violations of constitutional and human rights protections.

Filed through Barrister Salman Safdar and Salman Akram Raja, the writ petition names the superintendent and deputy superintendent of Adiala jail, the inspector general of prisons Punjab, chairman NAB, director general FIA, medical superintendent of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) and the state as respondents.

The petition contends that no court has awarded the 74-year-old former premier solitary confinement in either the Al-Qadir Trust Case or the Toshakhana-II case, yet jail authorities have allegedly kept him in isolation for nearly 22 hours a day over the last six months without any lawful sanction.