Pakistan: Imran Khan transferred to Adiala Jail

Pakistan Former Prime Minister Imran Khan has been transferred to Adiala Jail on Tuesday, despite his recent requests to not shift him from the Attock District Jail, reported The Express Tribune.

Islamabad police reached the Attock jail to execute the Islamabad High Court (IHC) order to shift Imran Khan to the Adiala Jail. However, Khan requested the special court to not transfer him.

Earlier, according to sources, during the hearing in the jail, Imran presented his statement before Judge Zulqarnain, stating that he did not want to be transferred to the Adiala Jail as he had now adjusted to the Attock Jail. He further said that he would ask his lawyers to withdraw the transfer application.

Reportedly, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan was dressed in black trousers and a T-shirt when he left the Attock Jail, The Express Tribune reported citing insiders.

Moreover, upon reaching the Adiala Jail, Imran underwent a medical examination.

According to the Jail Manual, Khan would be provided with facilities like a TV, newspapers, servants, a mattress, a chair and a table in the jail.

Imran Khan was charged in the Attock District Jail on August 5 following his same-day conviction in the Toshakhana case.

Moreover, Punjab authorities cited "security reasons" for lodging him in the Attock Jail, which is located approximately 90 kilometres west of the federal capital, reported The Express Tribune.

Earlier on August 29, the IHC suspended Imran Khan's sentence in the Toshakhana case but the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) arrested him on the same day in connection with alleged illegal possession and use of a diplomatic cipher.

However, later, according to the court order, the trial court had asked to keep Imran at Adiala Jail but the petitioner was transferred to the Attock Jail to complete his sentence due to overcrowding at Adiala Jail and security concerns, on the recommendation of the inspector general of prisons, reported The Express Tribune.

In the recent development, the judicial remand of Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi has been extended till October 10.

Notably, Imran's judicial detention along with Qureshi's was originally prolonged until September 13 and then again until September 26.

The cypher controversy first emerged on March 27, 2022, when Imran Khan just days before his ouster in April 2022 brandished a letter, claiming that it was a cypher from a foreign nation, which mentioned that his government should be ousted from power, according to The News International report.

He did not reveal the contents of the letter and the name of the nation that had sent it.

However, a few days later Imran Khan named the United States and said that US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Affairs Donald Lu had sought his removal. The PTI chairman had claimed that he was reading contents from the cypher and said that "all will be forgiven for Pakistan if Imran Khan is removed from power".