ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders staged a sit-in outside the Supreme Court on Friday, demanding access to party founder and former premier Imran Khan and highlighting concerns over his medical treatment.
The sit-in followed an overnight protest outside Adiala Jail, after the party filed a formal petition in the Islamabad High Court seeking access to the detained leader.
Security at the Supreme Court was tightened ahead of the PTI leaders’ arrival, with extra personnel and prisoner vans deployed around the complex.
Read: K-P CM Sohail Afridi, PTI end Adiala sit-in, turn to courts
PTI Senator Falak Naz Chitrali was among the first to arrive at the Supreme Court, followed by PTI leader Latif Khosa and Senator Mirza Afridi. PTI MPs arrived as additional prisoner vans were positioned outside amid heightened security.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja went to the court to meet Chief Justice Yahya Afridi. When the chief justice did not meet them, they held a 10-minute meeting with the Supreme Court registrar. Following this, Raja and Khosa met Attorney General Mansoor Usman.
Speaking to the media outside the Supreme Court, Raja said, “We are not being allowed to meet the PTI founder. We have other options as well. The PTI founder’s eye surgery was concealed from us. He was taken to the hospital, and the correct time was not disclosed.”
Raja said Imran was taken to PIMS Hospital for surgery, which the government denied for five days. “Yesterday, Sohail Afridi and other colleagues went to the jail. Afridi was on the visitors’ list but was not allowed to meet him,” he said. “The law requires that a prisoner’s family be informed if he is taken to a hospital. We will sit here until our rights are secured.”
Afridi said the PTI founder was examined in jail when he fell ill, but his family and lawyers were not informed. “The matter reached PIMS from Adiala, yet the family remained unaware,” he added.
“The biggest concern is that PIMS Hospital has no retina specialist. We also sat outside Adiala yesterday, met the chief justice and the registrar, and we will remain here until we receive a response,” Afridi said.
Amid PTI slogans outside the court, Afridi was asked about arrest warrants issued by an Islamabad court. He responded, “I am not aware of which warrants or in which case. I am ready to be arrested. Let anyone come and arrest me.”
Raja and Khosa requested access to the PTI founder’s medical reports during their meeting with Attorney General Mansoor Usman. Usman outlined the process for forwarding the request, which the federal government is reviewing to allow access for Imran Khan’s personal doctors.
Around three dozen PTI members remained outside the court premises.
