Imran's Adiala 'presidential suite' better than middle-class house: information minister

• Information Minister Tarar calls Imran a "dictator".
• Consulate attack issue taken up with Germany, he says.
• PML-N leader defends ban on X, formerly Twitter.

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar slammed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan for claiming that he was imprisoned in a death cell when, in actuality, he was in a "presidential suite", which is better than a middle-class family's house.

"You are telling the West that you're facing troubles, and you're imprisoned in a death cell. This death cell is a 'presidential suite' in Adiala jail, which is better than a middle-class house," Tarar said during a press conference in Islamabad.

Imran, in an interview with The Sunday Times through his lawyers, claimed that he was imprisoned in a death cell, where "terrorists" are kept to ensure "they have no contact with anyone".

The 71-year-old cricketer-turned-politician has been in prison for almost a year now in three cases — the Toshakhana case, cipher case, and the un-Islamic marriage case. His wife, Bushra Bibi, is also behind bars.

However, a court suspended his sentence in the Toshakhana case, while other courts overturned his convictions in the cipher and iddat cases, respectively.

While there were hopes for his and Bushra's release in July, they were dashed when the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) arrested them on fresh charges related to the sale of state gifts.

As Imran remains behind bars, he has kept claiming that he's not being provided several facilities, but to set the record straight, the government submitted documentary evidence of facilities being provided to the PTI founder in Adiala jail, rebutting his claims that he was being kept in solitary confinement.

The pictures shared with the court showed that the PTI founder was provided with several facilities that a common prisoner cannot imagine — since he's a former prime minister.

Imran has an exercise bike and stretching belt for physical fitness, books, a separate kitchen, a special menu, an exclusive gallery for a walk, LED, a room cooler, and a study table.

In his presser, while referring to the interview, he reminded the people of how a "dictator" Imran would treat his political opponents — regardless of their gender.

"[They knew] Shehbaz Sharif had a pain in his back. Despite that, he was brought in an armoured car and pushed, and it is visible in the footage. Maryam Nawaz was in a 7x8 cell, where she could not even spread the prayer mat properly, she was not even allowed to walk."

Recalling how former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was treated, Tarar said the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz president's wife died while he was in prison. He claimed that a fire was lit using wood outside Rana Sanaullah's jail cell in extremely hot weather.

"These are his words, 'I will take off the AC and TV, and not give you food, I will not allow them medicines or visits," Tarar said, reminding the people about what Imran would say about his plans for imprisoned PML-N leaders.

In response to a question, Tarar said his government did not want to victimise its political opponents and that the authorities also follow through on Imran's requests for "desi murghi ".

Consulate attack

Talking about Saturday's attack on the Pakistani consulate in Germany's Frankfurt, the information minister said that the Foreign Office had recorded a protest with the German authorities.

"They have told them to ensure the Pakistani mission's security and action be taken against those responsible for the security lapse," he added.

Tarar added that the National Database and Registration Authority's (Nadra) chairman has been tasked to review the attack's footage and check whether any Pakistani citizen was involved or was just one nation's people who attacked.

"This is unacceptable; we wrap our martyr's bodies in this flag," the federal minister said, adding that Pakistan Army's officers were martyred more compared to other countries.

The video of the incident went viral on the internet in which the Afghan nationals could be seen storming the Pakistani consulate. There are reports that they also tried burning the Pakistani flag.

According to media reports, the situation has drawn significant attention among the international communities, raising concerns about the diplomatic security of the installations.

Tarar said that if any Pakistani were found to be involved, as the PTI founder incites people to resort to violence, then their ID card and passport would be blocked and strict action would be taken.

"Khan sahib will not be able to save them," Tarar warned, noting that no matter how many cases are overturned or decided in PTI's favour, Imran will never be able to "prove his innocence".

Social media disruptions

In response to a question about disruption in the internet, Tarar claimed that the internet services were disrupted across several countries and flights were also affected in the US.

"The government has nothing to do with it, it's an overall problem," he said, noting that the IT Ministry and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) would inform about cyber security.

He added that if the government were to install a firewall, it would be for data and cyber security, not to gag freedom of expression. "This is as per my knowledge."

He said that on social media, there are several issues — some people deserve to be killed, women harassment, and child pornography. "You can see what kind of content is being uploaded on Twitter (now X).

The info minister noted that the interim government had placed a ban on the social media platform as its policies did not meet with the nation's compliance rate.

"There is some content that terrorists and anti-state elements use [to their benefit]. The interior ministry has taken this matter up in court," he added.

Firing incident at Bannu Aman March

According to the information minister, “Some armed people from political parties, including the PTI”, attended the Aman (peace) March organised by Bannu traders and created chaos by resorting to firing near Bannu Cantt’s wall on Friday where eight troops were martyred last week.

One person was killed and 22 sustained injuries due to stampede after the firing incident during Friday’s rally in Bannu, Tarar confirmed, adding that the victim was dead one kilometre away from Bannu Cantonment’s wall.

He questioned why “armed groups of some political parties” attended the traders’ event and what were their motives behind opening fire at the sensitive site of Bannu Cantonment’s wall.

He blamed the Imran-founded party for being “a sympathiser for the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)” and wanted the “politics of bodies” in the country.

The minister directly blamed the PTI workers for their alleged involvement in the Bannu Aman March’s firing incident and termed it a “conspiracy” of the former ruling party to create chaos in the country.

He categorically rejected the armed forces’ involvement in the firing incident during the Bannu rally, saying some people tried to blame the Pakistan Army for the incident for their ulterior motives.

He also rejected the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government’s statement on the incident, as well as its announcement to hold an inquiry into the incident as the ruling party’s associates were behind the attack.