RAWALPINDI: PPP leaders were not allowed to meet with Faryal Talpur at Central Jail Adiala on Saturday, although the jail administration did permit her lawyers and relatives to see her.

Party workers from Rawalpindi and Islamabad tried to meet Ms Talpur in jail, but were not permitted by the jail administration. A senior party leader said party leaders from Sindh even sent a formal request, which the authorities turned down.

He said the provincial government had said visitors could meet with Ms Talpur on Saturday and former president Asif Ali Zardari on Monday. The government did not send Ms Talpur to attend a session of the Sindh Assembly even though her production orders were issued, he added.

Ms Talpur did meet with her family, including MNA Mir Munawar Talpur, as well as her lawyers former Sindh minister Ziaul Hasan Lanjaar, Ghulam Mustafa Laghari and Khan Bahadur Bhatti.

After the visit, Mr Lanjaar said Ms Talpur had not been provided the appropriate facilities, as the court ordered her to be held in B-class facilities but the jail administration has denied her this right.

The court ordered two-day visit for her family and lawyers was also reduced, he said.

Mr Lanjaar said Ms Talpur’s health was deteriorating in prison, as she was moved from the hospital to jail at midnight on the eve of Eid.

“The government and administration are not following court orders,” he claimed.

He said that the court has asked for Ms Talpur to be examined by cardiac specialist, and she is also suffering from allergies because of the unhygienic conditions in the jail.

The Punjab government has reduced to move her from Punjab even though her production orders were issued from the Sindh Assembly, he said, denying her the right to attend the assembly session.

He said a constitutional petition will be filed against the violation of court orders, the inadequate prison facilities and the denial of B-class facilities.

Published in Dawn, August 25th, 2019