Imran hospital transfer 'drama' riles up PTI

Sister alleges Imran being tortured in jail PTI decides to file contempt plea in SC Reaffirms Sept 27 long march

ISLAMABAD:

In a high-stake overnight drama, a seemingly reluctant government took incarcerated former prime minister Imran Khan from Adiala Jail to a government-run hospital instead of the facility ordered by the Supreme Court, only to send him back to prison hours later after doctors declared him medically fit - stunning the opposition and setting the stage for a fresh legal and political showdown.

The PTI on Friday accused the government of committing contempt of court by "flouting" the Supreme Court's order to shift incarcerated party founder Imran Khan to Shifa International Hospital, and announced that it would approach the apex court on Saturday.

The apex court had directed the government to move Imran to Shifa International Hospital, a private facility.

Speaking at a news conference in Islamabad, Dr Uzma Khan, the sister of Imran Khan, said that the PTI founder told her, "Go and tell everyone that they are subjecting me to severe injustice and torture. Morsi was killed in the same way that I am being tortured by being kept in solitary confinement."

She said, "We were called to Adiala Jail at around 8:30 p.m. I was sitting in DSP Saqlain's office. Then they took me in a small vehicle. It looked like we were in a forest. When I asked, I was told that it was PIMS. It was the outpatient department of PIMS."

She said that when she went upstairs, PTI founder Imran Khan was there. "The PTI founder told the police officers that his sister was meeting him after ten months. He showed me affection. I told him that we had to go to Al-Shifa, where all the medical tests were supposed to be carried out."

Dr Uzma said that at PIMS, a doctor asked what eye drops had been put in Imran Khan's eye. His blood pressure was checked, and then the doctor said that he needed an injection in his eye.

"But they kept seating us in different places, sometimes here and sometimes there, as if they were simply trying to pass the time. The PTI founder told me that the doctor had said his condition had deteriorated because he had not had human contact."

She said that the founder told her the doctor had explained that hypertension can result from a lack of human contact. "After an injection was given in one of his eyes, his other eye was covered with a bandage. When we were about to leave PIMS, I asked whether we were going to Al-Shifa, but the people there did not tell me anything."

Dr Uzma said, "I kept asking repeatedly, but no one answered me. A doctor named Arif introduced himself. I had neither a mobile phone nor a watch, but it was the time of the Fajr call to prayer. Then they took us back to Adiala Jail. Dr Faisal Sultan got out of another vehicle there."

Khan's sister said that the PTI founder did not have high blood pressure; rather, he was suffering from severe anxiety. "He repeatedly said that they had been subjecting him to great injustice for the past ten months. He said, 'Go and tell everyone that they are subjecting me to severe injustice and torture.'

He said that Morsi had been killed in the same way that he was being tortured by being kept in solitary confinement."

She further said, "Imran Khan repeatedly kept saying one thing: 'I have been tortured.' There was no TV and nothing to read. No one cared about me, even though I would tell them about it. They would not allow me to have any human contact with anyone. They turned the TV on for two days and then switched it off."

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi said that the administration and government's conduct the previous day was "extremely regrettable" because, contrary to the Supreme Court's order, Imran Khan had been taken to PIMS Hospital instead of Shifa Hospital for his medical examination. He said that by doing so, the authorities had committed contempt of the Supreme Court and the order issued by its three judges.

Afridi said, "If the judiciary cannot ensure the implementation of its own orders, then where should the people turn? This is contempt of all the courts of Pakistan."

Afridi said, "Three judges ordered that Imran Khan be treated at Shifa International, but these people consider themselves above the Constitution and the law. This is contempt of the judges and the Supreme Court."

He said, "The judges should decide whether they want to have the courts locked up or want their orders to be implemented. The judges should decide this today."

Afridi said, "We will launch our movement because we have to implement Imran Khan's instructions, and we will also file a contempt-of-court petition over the failure to implement the court's decision."

He said that there were no PTI workers around the hospital and that they had already made it clear that if workers did gather, they would have no connection with PTI.

Afridi claimed, "There was no one around the jail either, apart from the media."

Opposition parties on Friday decided to approach the Supreme Court over what they described as the government's failure to implement its order concerning Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan's medical treatment, while reaffirming plans for a full-fledged protest and long march on September 27.

The decision was taken at a meeting of opposition parliamentary parties chaired by National Assembly Opposition Leader Mahmood Khan Achakzai at Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa House in Islamabad.

Senator Raja Nasir Abbas, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Khan, Asad Qaiser, K-P Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja, among other leaders, attended the meeting.

According to a statement issued after the meeting, participants expressed "deep concern" over Imran's health and reiterated that no compromise would be made on his medical treatment.

The opposition leaders accused the government of staging a "drama" over Imran's health and maintained that failure to implement Supreme Court decisions amounted to contempt of court.

The meeting decided that the opposition would approach the Supreme Court on Saturday to seek implementation of its order concerning Imran's medical treatment.

The participants also reaffirmed their decision to hold a "full-fledged" protest and long march on September 27 and agreed to invite all opposition parties to join the demonstration.

The meeting further agreed to accelerate the public mobilisation campaign in Punjab and across the country and vowed to continue their joint struggle for the supremacy of the Constitution, democracy and the rule of law.

The participants agreed that all political and parliamentary decisions would be taken through mutual consultation.

The meeting also endorsed the Grand Opposition Alliance and agreed to make it more active. The participants welcomed the possible participation of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and other political parties in the alliance, saying a broader opposition alliance would strengthen the opposition's voice in Parliament.

Achakzai said wasting opportunities to ease Pakistan's political crisis was "tantamount to treason against this country," criticising the government's handling of Imran's transfer to hospital.

Addressing the media at Parliament House alongside PTI lawmakers and senior leadership, Achakzai said, "There was hope, and we were thinking, 'better late than never'."

He further said wasting such opportunities amounted to "treason against this country." "Whether anyone accepts it or not, Imran Khan's is Pakistan's most popular party, and we all know that he is currently a prisoner of conscience who is standing firm on his principles. Imran Khan has not broken," he said.

He added that the SC had taken notice of reports about Imran's health, including his blood pressure and eye problems, and ordered his transfer to Shifa.

Achakzai stated that PTI had fully cooperated with the decision and had announced across the country that no crowds would gather outside the hospital and that there would be no slogans, disorder or political gatherings.

"If Imran Khan had remained in a hospital bed instead of a prison cell for a week and doctors had properly examined him, what would have happened?" he questioned.

He further said he had been pleased when he heard during the night that Imran had reached the hospital, believing he would remain there for at least a day or two for treatment. "However, in the morning, I found out that the situation had deteriorated further," he said.

Achakzai also said Imran had told his sister that he was being treated like former Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi and "being kept in isolation and subjected to torture." He added that the opposition's disagreement was not personal, "neither with any soldier nor with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif nor Nawaz Sharif."

"Our disagreement is only with those forces that do not accept supremacy of the Constitution and an independent judiciary in Pakistan, and those who do not arrange bread and water for the poor people," he added.

He said the opposition would only respond through peaceful political activity, adding that the Tehreek-e-Tahafuz-e-Ayin-e-Pakistan (TTAP) and its allied parties stood "100% in solidarity" with PTI. "The good thing is that important progress is now being made towards forming a 'united opposition', for which we are all working," he added.

Achakzai further said the alliance aimed to help the country emerge from its current crisis and move towards a genuinely democratic system. "The only way to save Pakistan is for the source of power to be Parliament alone, for the judiciary to be completely independent within its domain, and for there to be no restrictions on journalism," he added.

Salman Akram Raja, earlier speaking to reporters at Parliament House, said that the party would file a contempt of court petition over the government's failure to implement the SC order directing the transfer of party founder Imran Khan to Islamabad's Shifa International Hospital, and accusing the authorities of refusing to accept the court's decision.