ISLAMABAD: Imran Khan‘s lawyers could not reach him on Sunday after he spent the night in jail outside the capital following his arrest the previous day on a corruption conviction, spokespeople said. “Attock prison is a ‘No Go’ area for (his) legal team as well as locals in the vicinity,” said Naeem Haider Panjotha, Khan’s spokesperson for legal affairs, adding they were unable to take him food or arrange the signing of key legal documents.
Pakistan’s information minister referred a request for comment to his lawyers to provincial authorities in Punjab, where the jail is located.
Another spokesperson for Khan, Zulfi Bukhari, said his lawyers were waiting in the town of Attock near the jail and were unable to meet Khan all day but were told by authorities to try on Monday. He said the delays could hamper their attempts to swiftly appeal the trial court decision and to apply for bail. He added that the lawyers would seek first thing on Monday to get a time set for the court to hear their request for Khan’s bail. Bukhari said the former colonial prison did not have the facilities a former prime minister would normally be entitled to in Pakistan’s prison system. Reuters