ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) vice chairman Kamran Murtaza, who led a delegation of bar members to meet ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif at Adiala prison in Rawalpindi on Thursday, claimed that Mr Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz had been kept in “solitary confinement” while being provided shoddy facilities.

For the first time since they were incarcerated after landing at Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore on July 13, the father and daughter were allowed to meet her husband retired Capt Mohammad Safdar on Thursday, who is also in the prison, said Mr Murtaza, talking to Dawn.

Several leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) arrived at the otherwise sleepy central jail of the garrison city to meet the party supremo. They included former National Assembly speaker Ayaz Sadiq, Leader of the House in the Senate Raja Zafarul Haq, Pervez Rashid, Marriyum Aurengzeb, former KP chief minister Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan and Khurram Dastagir.

Ousted PM, daughter have first meeting with Safdar at Adiala; PML-N leaders see their chief but lawyers fail to meet clients

Ironically, Mr Sharif’s legal team, led by senior counsel Khawaja Haris Ahmed, which had scheduled a meeting with the former prime minister, was turned away at the gates of Adiala jail.

Soon after meeting the ex-premier, former information minister Pervez Rashid voiced concerns about the “pathetic condition” of the jail where the thrice-elected prime minister was being kept in.

The accountability court which had summoned Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf leader Imran Khan for using a government-owned helicopter took no action when it was told that Mr Khan was busy campaigning and could therefore not attend the court proceedings, and the National Accountability Bureau agreed to wait before proceeding with the investigation till after the election, he said.

“Why can’t the facilities Mr Khan has been given be accorded to other political leaders?” Mr Rashid asked, alleging that political parties were being denied a level playing field to contest the general elections.

“I have been to jail during military dictatorship and I know the jail manuals — under the rules, every prisoner is free to walk in the jail premises between sunrise and sunset,” he said, adding that it was unfortunate that the Sharif family members were being kept in solitary confinement.

The PBC vice chairman said they met Mr Sharif in a room for 40 to 45 minutes. He said that although he had not found him off-colour, the ex-premier did complain that the room where he was staying smelt foul and was not ventilated. He was not even given a bed on his first night there and had to sleep on the floor till he was given a charpoy later in the night.

Mr Sharif’s legal team arrived at Adiala prison at around 11am, for a meeting they had scheduled with the prison’s deputy superintendent. They were told that their meeting was cancelled, after which they returned.

Talking to Dawn, Khawaja Haris said the legal team comprised Amjad Pervaiz, Barrister Saad Hashmi and Zaffar Khan.

Jail Deputy Superintendent Shehzad Bukhari had stopped the motorcade of former NA speaker Ayaz Sadiq at the jail’s entrance, and asked him to proceed on his own as the names of the guards and other men in his cavalcade were not added to the visitors’ list.

After Mr Sadiq objected, the matter was taken to the jail superintendent who allowed the former speaker’s staff to accompany him inside the prison.

Mr Bukhari had allowed the visitors in after thoroughly checking and frisking them. A double-cabin vehicle carrying food for the incarcerated Sharif family members was thoroughly checked.

“The morale of the Sharifs is very high. They will not accept defeat but will face the challenges with courage and will win general elections 2018,” said Sardar Mehtab Khan Abbasi.

Addressing a press talk outside Adiala jail, PML-N’s spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb relayed a message from Mr Sharif to supporters: “Come out from your houses on July 25, and vote for the ‘tiger’ to make the movement for respect for votes a success.”

She said there were media reports that the father and daughter could take their meals together and meet often, and termed them a pack of lies.

PML-N leader Dr Asif Kirmani told journalists outside Adiala jail that he had met Mr Sharif, and his health had improved and his morale was high. “Nawaz Sharif is a brave man and Maryam Nawaz is the daughter of a brave father,” he said, while stressing that they deserved better facilities than what they had been accorded.

Aamir Yasin in Rawalpindi also contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, July 20th, 2018