Do IMF, EU delegates visit Imran Khan in Adiala Jail?

Incarcerated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) President Chaudhry Parvez Elahi on Thursday made a startling claim, saying that officials from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Union (EU) "routinely" visit his party chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan in Rawalpindi's Adiala Jail.

However, the Punjab prisons department spokesperson dismissed Elahi’s claim and termed it “baseless and against the facts”.

Talking to journalists in the courtroom in Lahore, the PTI president — where he was brought in connection with the hearing of a money laundering case lodged against him — said that Khan was incarcerated in a cell adjacent to his in the prison.

“Representatives from the EU and the IMF [routinely] visit Imran,” he claimed.

Responding to a question about the upcoming polls — slated to be held on February 8, 2024 — the former Punjab chief minister said that the ousted prime minister would secure an unprecedented number of votes.

“There will be no rigging in this election,” he said, adding that the polls’ date was announced on the directions of the top court.

To another question, the PTI president said that no one had asked him for a press conference to date. Elahi further said that he stood with Khan and will continue to support the deposed prime minister — who was removed from power via a parliamentary vote in April last year — in the future as well.

The jailed prime minister had been firing salvos at the establishment since he was removed from office, but on the other hand, Khan’s close aide and the party’s president, surprisingly claimed: “We always have good relations with the establishment.”

Reacting to Elahi’s claim, the spokesperson of the provincial jail department said that there was no truth in the reports.

Terming Elahi’s claim “baseless and against the facts”, the spokesperson clarified: “No such meeting was held with the PTI chairman in Adiala Jail.”

the jail official added: “Such a meeting is out of the question in Adiala Jail.”

Elahi and Khan were kept in separate cells in the jail, the spokesperson said, adding that even the Punjab former chief executive never met the deposed premier in the prison.

Only his family and lawyers were allowed to meet the incarcerated prime minister in the jail, the spokesperson added.

With over 300 cameras, IG Office used to monitor the jail round the clock, he added.