The High Court of Islamabad (IHC) restored Bihebdance meetings for the former Prime Minister and Pakistan Tehreek-E-insaf (PTI), the prison president, Imran Khan, in Adiala prison, but also prohibited visitors from making political statements after meetings.
The decision, published Monday, allows Imran to meet the family and lawyers on Tuesday and friends on Thursday. However, only people approved by Imran coordinator, lawyer Salman Akram Raja, will be authorized.
During the hearing, the court expressed its concerns concerning visitors using prison meetings for political messaging. The acting chief judge, Sarfaraz Dogar, pointed out that visitors should “meet and leave”, stressing that discussions with the media were useless.
The court ordered visitors to sign a business by ensuring that they do not make public statements after the meetings.
Prison authorities have defended previous restrictions, citing security threats. They said they had consolidated Khan’s meetings in one day instead of managing the risks.
The court rejected the argument, declaring that visits to the two weeks of Imran had already been approved in a previous decision.
Meanwhile, Imran’s legal team argued that planned meetings were arbitrarily refused. His lawyer, Zaheer Abbas, said that despite appropriate requests, a meeting scheduled for March 20 had not taken place.
Dogar judge asked Imran’s lawyers to separate the court of first instance separately if they wanted permission to his children to visit.
The decision comes in the midst of the legal battles underway for Imran, which has been in prison since January after being sentenced in corruption cases. His legal status has gone from the by-condemned sub-prisoner, affecting his prison privileges.
Prison authorities argue that meetings should be limited for security reasons. However, the court stressed that political debates should not be detained during visits or after.
The Imran legal team assured the court that visitors would comply with the new restrictions, paving the way for the resumption of bihebdomadar meetings.
With the court’s decision, supporters and Imran Khan’s legal team will now be able to meet him twice a week. However, any violation of the media gap order could lead to new legal action.
The decision of the High Court of Islamabad is considered to be a small compensation for the Imran camp, but the restrictions on political declarations show the attempt at the judiciary to prevent prison meetings from becoming a political messaging platform.
