Awan says was in touch with Imran during NAB custody

ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan’s legal team got in touch with him after his arrest from the Islamabad High Court this week, said one of his senior counsels, as the national anti-graft watchdog interrogated him over the allegations of receiving a land worth millions of dollars in bribe from a real estate tycoon.

Khan was whisked away by paramilitary Rangers from the judicial complex in Islamabad on the instructions of Pakistan’s National Accountability Bureau (NAB) after the ex-premier arrived at the court for appearance in two different cases, Arab media reported.

The arrest sparked violent protests by supporters of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party across the country, many of whom stormed government buildings, including the official residence of a top army general, and set public property on fire, demanding his release.

Khan’s legal team also questioned the legality of the proceedings against him as they decided to challenge them before the superior judiciary. “He was kept in the dark; dark means (that he had) no television,” Babar Awan, a senior Khan counsel, told Arab News, describing the ex-premier’s situation in captivity. “When I spoke to him, he said ‘I will not ask for any facility’.”

Khan was different from leaders of other political parties who asked for amenities to make life comfortable under similar circumstances, Awan said. Asked if his statement implied that he was in contact with Khan during custody, he replied, after a brief pause: “Yes, I live in this city... We find ways of how to connect.”

In an informal conversation with journalists at the IHC on Friday, Khan said NAB authorities had allowed him to use a landline to speak to his wife. The question was raised in the wake of an audio leak of his purported phone call with a party colleague, Musarrat Jamshed Cheema, which he allegedly made to instruct his party to challenge his arrest in the Supreme Court.

Awan told Arab News Khan had not met anyone from the country’s powerful security establishment while in custody. He said the “interrogation was exclusively conducted by NAB,” adding that there was nothing to ask, though, since all the institutions Khan built, including the Shaukat Khanum Hospital and Al-Qadir University, had not been his personal ventures.

Awan maintained all these institutions had their independent boards, and Khan could neither influence or appoint anyone nor utilize any funds raised in their name. “Not even a penny goes into his pocket,” he said.

Khan in January admitted to investing around $3 million Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust (SKMT) funds in a private housing project, though he said the money was later returned.

Asked if the PTI could be proscribed after the violent protests that followed its leader’s arrest, he dismissed the notion. “This is not the job of the government,” he said. “It is the job of the Supreme Court and it is written in the Constitution.”

Awan contended the top court was aware of its responsibilities and it had already said that it “wanted to see Imran Khan in mainstream politics.” Khan’s counsel, however, was non-committal, when asked if the ex-premier would cooperate with the authorities if they summoned him to probe corruption allegations. It should be them who should cooperate with his client instead, he added.

“They say they can’t control [people],” he said. “Enable him [Khan] to control [them]. Don’t make more cases. There are already enough [of them against him].”

Awan was also reticent when asked how his party wanted to capitalize on May 14, designated by the Supreme Court as the election date in Pakistan’s most populous Punjab province, since the government had clearly dismissed the ruling to hold voting on the said date. “This bridge is about to be crossed,” he said.