Faisal Sheikh
ISLAMABAD: PTI founder Imran Khan has written a letter to Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi, it emerged on Thursday as party leader Latif Khosa delivered it to the top judge at the Supreme Court.
In the letter dated September 16, a copy of which is available Imran expressed grievances over several matters, including the conditions he has been kept in inside jail, and urged CJP Afridi to direct the Islamabad High Court to fix some “critical petitions” that had been “hanging in the doldrums” for hearing.
The petitions he was referring to pertain to Toshakhana and Al Qadir Trust cases.
Speaking to the media after delivering Imran’s letter, Khosa said the CJP had sought the ex-premier’s complaints regarding the conditions in jail in writing and assured that his grievances would be addressed and responded to within 24 hours.
He said, “We will inform you about whatever happens in [the next] 24 hours.”
Khosa said he had also expressed “our reservations” about the judiciary to the chief justice and raised the matter of jail reforms.
“The CJP has sought suggestions over jail reforms,” he said.
Earlier, Imran’s sister Aleema Khanum had reached the court with the PTI founder’s letter, where she was reportedly barred from meeting the CJP by police. Khosa was later allowed access to the chief justice.
The letter
Imran began his letter with complaints about jail conditions, saying: “For over 772 days, from a cage measuring 9 x 11, from a dungeon of enforced silence, isolation and incommunicado, I have endured continued solitary confinement … All access to books and newspapers has been denied to me.”
“Meetings with my lawyers and family are “arbitrarily cancelled at the whims and wishes of one man”, Imran claimed, referring to the army chief.
He also alleged that his sons were barred from talking to him on phone and political workers were also not allowed to see him.
“It is not lawful imprisonment since its inception; it is only calculated psychological torture, crafted to break my will … It is an ongoing assault on the Constitution, the rule of law and the democratic future of my beloved homeland, Pakistan,” he continued.
The PTI founder also complained of “inhuman and degrading treatment” being meted out to his wife, Bushra Bibi, in jail, alleging that she was being denied medical treatment and access to books and television.
He pointed out that superior courts have held that “female prisoners are entitled to leniency through bail as a matter of right”.
Yet, in Bushra Bibi’s case, “this principle has been suspended”, he said.
The former premier then went on highlight that “thousands of my supporters and party workers continue to languish in jails” and had been “abducted, beaten and subjected to military trials in flagrant violation of constitutional protections”.
 Yahya Afridi, it emerged on Thursday as party lead){kind=link}