PTI ends sit-in outside SC as Salman Akram meets chief justice

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) ended the sit-in outside the Supreme Court on Friday after party leader Salman Akram Raja held a meeting with Chief Justice Yahya Afridi.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and other PTI leaders had staged the sit-in in an attempt to meet the chief justice.

Earlier, Salman Akram Raja and Latif Khosa met the Supreme Court Registrar that lasted around 10 minutes.

Following the meeting with the registrar, the PTI delegation also held discussions with the attorney general.

A short while later, KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi also reached the Supreme Court. PTI leader Shafi Jan said they had come to meet the chief justice and would approach the constitutional court as well if required.

Heavy security deployed

Extra security personnel had been deployed inside and outside the Supreme Court, while additional prison vans were also brought to the area as a precautionary measure.

The sit-in was joined by Opposition Leader in the Senate Allama Raja Nasir Abbas. PTI workers chanted slogans outside the court building.

PTI demands private doctors for Imran Khan’s check-up

The PTI has demanded that two doctors from a private hospital be permitted to conduct a medical check-up of the party founder. The government is reportedly considering the names of the two proposed doctors.

Sources confirmed that Raja held a meeting with Chief Justice Afridi for more than 30 minutes, during which he informed him of PTI’s concerns.

Speaking to the media afterward, Raja said that PTI leaders had been present outside the Supreme Court since morning and had also remained outside Adiala Jail until 3am the previous night.

He said that the PTI would accept nothing less than clarity regarding the health of the party founder, alleging that authorities misled the public for five days about his condition.

Raja said that officials assured them that detailed reports regarding what happened at the PIMS hospital and inside the jail would be provided to the PTI founder, after which his family would decide whether the explanation was satisfactory.

He reiterated PTI’s demand that the party founder be released and, until cases are concluded, be granted access to family members and colleagues.

He said the party’s political committee, led by Allama Raja Nasir Abbas and Mahmood Achakzai, would decide the next course of action.

Allama Raja Nasir Abbas said denying basic rights was oppression and condemned what he called “dirty politics” behind keeping the PTI founder imprisoned.

He said that the judicial system had weakened and that despite court orders, family and colleagues were not being allowed to meet the PTI founder.

KP Chief Minister Soheil Afridi said PTI leaders alleged negligence in the medical treatment of the PTI founder, saying he was taken to a hospital where relevant specialists were not available.

Afridi said that PTI wanted the founder’s personal doctors to examine him, but permission was denied.

He added that the political committee would decide the next steps, noting that a protest call for February 8 remains in place.