- Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi are held in solitary confinement with harsh conditions, says sister
- Bail hearings are stalled by Islamabad High Court Chief Justice, blocking their release, alleged Khan's sister
- Bushra Bibi faces isolation to pressure Khan into submission, per Khan's lawyer and sister
Pakistan's former Prime Minister and the founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) Imran Khan and his third wife, Bushra Bibi, are in solitary confinement under "brutal conditions", his sister Aleema Khanum claimed in a post on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter). Questioning the judiciary, Khanum blamed the chief justice's refusal to fix a bail hearing as the reason behind their prolonged stay.
"Their (Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi) freedom is being deliberately blocked by the Chief Justice of the Islamabad High Court, who refuses to fix their bail hearings," Khanum wrote.
Khanum condemned the legal system, reiterating her brother's recent allegations against the judiciary, calling it a "tool of the government."
"Judges assigned to his cases are not delivering justice; they are ensuring hearings never happen. The reality is simple: the moment this case is heard, its weak and baseless nature will be exposed, and bail will become unavoidable. That is exactly why it is being stalled. Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi continued imprisonment is due to Judge Dogar, who is openly facilitating a government that came to power by stealing Imran Khan's mandate," Khanum wrote.
According to information received from Khan's lawyer, Salman Safdar, Bushra Bibi is being kept in complete isolation in an attempt to break her down and in turn force Khan to submit to the judiciary.
"Through Salman Safdar, Imran Khan has sent a message, his wife is being pushed to the edge by prolonged isolation. He has said he can endure this himself, but she is being broken to force him into submission. The pressure is deliberate, calculated, and inhumane. He said clearly "no deal, no surrender! It is liberty or death"," Khanum wrote.
Also Read | Imran Khan vs Asim Munir: The Feud That Began In 2019
In the past, Khanum and her sister, Uzma Khan, have accused PM Shehbaz Sharif and the Field Marshal Asim Munir of plotting a "lethal conspiracy" to kill their brother in jail.
"He (Imran Khan) had told me that they (military) will kill me slowly, and Asim Munir will be responsible for it. I am now realising that he was right, based on how they (jail authorities) are treating him and what people like the interior minister (Naqvi) are saying," she said, talking about the "Asim Munir regime's" "lethal conspiracy".
"Inhumane Treatment Of Bushra Bibi To Blackmail Me": Imran Khan
Last month, during a phone call with his son Kasim Khan for Eid, Khan expressed concern about the "inhumane treatment" of his wife in prison.
"The judges in this country should be ashamed of themselves. Time and again we have gone to the judiciary, but they have sold their souls for personal gain. They have sold their integrity. They know they cannot break me, so they turn to my wife. How can they allow this inhumane treatment of Bushra Bibi, simply to blackmail me?" Khan said in a statement, as reported by The Independent.
Khan alleged that Bushra Bibi was being allowed to meet him for 30 minutes per week and even that is "denied often."
Imran Khan In Jail
Khan, 73, has been in jail since August 2023 after he was convicted in several cases that he has claimed are politically motivated. He has since been held in Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi.
He is reported to have lost almost all vision in his right eye and also underwent a round of treatment last month.
