Peshawar/Rawalpindi, November 21, 2025: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi has written a formal letter to Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, expressing “serious concerns” over the alleged manhandling of PTI founder Imran Khan’s sisters by police and what he termed as persistent obstruction of the former prime minister’s court-mandated visitation rights.
The letter, shared by the PTI on X early Friday, follows Afridi’s own seventh consecutive attempt to meet Imran Khan at Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail being denied on Thursday. Earlier this week, police allegedly “violently detained” and mishandled Imran’s sisters outside the prison, where they had been waiting to exercise their weekly visitation rights.
Afridi said the incidents raise “grave questions” about compliance with judicial orders that permit close family members and nominated individuals to meet Imran on specified days.
“Despite the unambiguous nature of these instructions, repeated reports indicate persistent non-implementation by authorities responsible for compliance,” the letter stated.
He described the reported treatment of Imran’s sisters as “particularly disturbing,” noting that they were private citizens whose visit had been approved by the court.
“There is no conceivable legal or administrative basis for obstructing or mishandling immediate family members whose presence is neither political nor disruptive,” he wrote. “Their obstruction, physical restraint or temporary detention is wholly unacceptable.”
The KP chief minister said these actions created the impression that jail and police authorities were disregarding judicial directives and failing to safeguard the rights of visitors.
Afridi urged Maryam to ensure a proper, safe and dignified waiting area for authorised visitors to Adiala Jail.
“The current practice of stopping them nearly a kilometre away and compelling elderly family members — particularly women — to sit on roads is wholly inappropriate and must be discontinued,” he said.
He called on the Punjab government to ensure full implementation of court directives on visitation, identify and hold accountable those responsible for obstructing or mistreating visitors, including Imran’s family and KP cabinet members, and issue instructions to police and prison authorities to prevent similar incidents in future.
Afridi stressed that as a former prime minister and party leader, any deviation from judicially mandated procedures in Imran’s case was a matter of “direct institutional concern.”
“I cannot remain indifferent when his dignity and rights are being compromised,” he wrote, urging prompt and decisive action.
Imran Khan has been incarcerated at Adiala Jail since August 2023. He is serving a sentence in a £190 million corruption case and faces multiple pending trials under the Anti-Terrorism Act related to the May 9, 2023 protests.
On Thursday, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan expressed concern over reports of Imran’s sisters being “manhandled,” reiterating that the rights of prisoners’ families to meet their relatives — and the right to peaceful assembly — are protected under national and international law.
The HRCP called for a transparent inquiry and urged authorities to ensure “the rights, safety and dignity of all involved” are respected.
