Aleema Khan moves Islamabad High Court against Imran Khan’s solitary confinement

PTI founder's sister files petition naming jail authorities and federal agencies, claiming isolation is inhuman and not part of his judicial sentence.

Aleema Khan, the sister of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder, has approached the Islamabad High Court to challenge the solitary confinement of Imran Khan.

According to Express News, the petition filed by Aleema Khan names the Jail Superintendent, Inspector General (IG) of Prisons, Chairman of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Director General of the Federal Investigation Agency (DG FIA), and the Medical Superintendent (MS) of PIMS hospital as respondents.

The stance adopted in the court petition maintains that a meeting with his lawyer on 8 April revealed the PTI founder is kept in solitary confinement for 22 hours a day, whilst Bushra Bibi is isolated for 24 hours. It further states that no meetings have been allowed with either family members or party leadership for the past six months.

According to the petition, the mandate to keep the PTI founder in solitary confinement does not exist in any judicial verdict. It argues that keeping her brother in solitary confinement constitutes inhuman treatment, and notes that during the legal meeting, the founder shared that his eyesight has been 85 per cent affected. The text highlights that solitary confinement is a severe punishment that forms no part of his actual sentence.

Aleema Khan has requested the court to declare the solitary confinement of the PTI founder illegal.

The petition has been formally submitted to the Islamabad High Court through Barrister Salman Safdar. This legal move follows a separate petition previously filed by Bushra Bibi’s daughter against her mother’s solitary confinement.