Pakistani authorities on Tuesday barred visitors for imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan after receiving intelligence reports about a possible attack on the prison where he is being held, government officials and his party said.
Under a government order, no visitors will be allowed to meet with Khan or other inmates at the Adiala prison in the garrison city of Rawalpindi for two weeks for security reasons. The order came just days after authorities beefed up security at the prison.
It was unclear whether the intelligence obtained by authorities was about Khan or about other inmates in separate barracks, including militants who are on trial.
Khan is currently serving multiple prison terms at the Adiala prison. He has been convicted on charges of corruption, revealing official secrets and violating the marriage laws in three separate verdicts and sentenced to 10, 14 and seven years respectively.
Under Pakistani law, he serves the terms concurrently, meaning that he essentially is serving the longest of the sentences. Khan is appealing all the convictions.
Gohar Khan, the chairman of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, or PTI, denounced the ban on Khan’s visitors.
Khan’s party failed to get a majority in the Feb. 8 parliamentary elections in which his rivals emerged as the largest presence in the National Assembly, or lower house of the parliament. Khan’s rival Shehbaz Sharif is now the country’s prime minister.