Islamabad: One of the former prime minister Imran Khan's spokespersons claimed on Saturday night that his legal team was denied access to him while he was imprisoned, adding that it was his lawyers' right to visit him there and learn about his well-being.
In an instance involving the unauthorised sale of state gifts, the nation's election commission in October of last year barred Khan from holding public office and recommended that criminal charges be brought against him.
Before being taken into custody and transported to a prison outside of the city of Lahore, he was sentenced to three years in prison by a trial court in Pakistan's federal capital of Islamabad in the case known as the Toshakhana, or state repository.
By contacting Attock, the additional home secretary, and the superintendent of the jail, we have made every effort to meet Imran Khan. In a brief video message, Naeem Haider Panjutha, the former PM's legal affairs spokesperson, stated. "However, neither of them has responded," the statement continued.
He continued, "We have informed both of them that the power of attorney and other documents must be signed by Mr. Khan because we need to move various applications and oppose various [court] orders. "We also need to contest the Toshakhana ruling from today. We haven't yet been able to meet him, though.
According to Panjutha, Khan's legal team also desired to see him because they cared about his wellbeing and wanted to give him clothes, food, and other comforts.
He stated that the authorities had not given them a "green signal," despite the fact that it was within his legal team's rights to visit the former prime minister while he was incarcerated.
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Zulfi Bokhari, one of Khan's close advisers, also distributed a video message in which he expressed regret for the nation and its judicial system over the fact that the former premier's legal team was denied the chance to present its case in the Toshakhana case.
He also questioned how the judge could type a 35-page judgement in 30 minutes when writing such a lengthy document could take many hours.
Some legal experts voiced similar concerns, pointing out that if due process of law had been followed, Khan could not have been detained from his residence in Lahore so quickly on the orders of an Islamabad court.
Bokhari disclosed that police broke into Khan's home through the back door, adding that they also physically assaulted four or five of his staff members.
He revealed that Khan had also been physically assaulted by officials who had come to his home to arrest him.
He claimed that they manhandled and threw him into a car after grabbing him.
Bokhari emphasised that Khan's detention would be challenged and appealed in a high court and the supreme court, and he urged the local and international media to inquire as to whether it was appropriate to detain the PTI leader without a fair trial.
He insisted that Khan's removal from Pakistan's political scene was a goal of the departing administration and other state institutions.
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However, Pakistan's information minister Marriyum Aurangzeb claimed earlier in the day that Khan's arrest was made because he was refusing to answer the accusations against him and was not done for political reasons