By The South Asia Times 

ISLAMABAD - Former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan’s legal team on Sunday claimed that authorities refused to allow them to meet Khan in prison.

Ali Ijaz Buttar, a member of Khan’s legal team said that since yesterday the authorities not allow them to meet Khan, who is detained in Attock jail following his arrested from Lahore on Saturday. 

*We contacted the Punjab Home Department and IG Jails and Jail authorities to allow us to meet Imran Khan as we need to provide essential items to Khan and take his signs on legal documents and attorney names, but today again they said that Sunday is a holiday and we can not allow you meet Khan,” Buttar wrote on Twitter. 

However, he said that officials in the prison told them that Khan is fine.

“But until our meeting, we could not confirm that proper facilities have been provided or not to Khan,” Buttar added.

Khan was arrested for the second time in the last three months on Saturday following a controversial verdict of a local judge in Islamabad, who sentenced Khan to three years in prison and imposed a fine of Rs 100,000 in the Tosha Khan [official gifts] case. 

Naeem Haider Panjutha advocate, another member of the Khan legal team also accused the government to has banned meeting of lawyers with Khan.

“According to reports, Khan Sahib is doing well in Attock Jail. The government has banned lawyers from meeting with Khan or providing him any food or other essential items etc. Jail surroundings have been made a no-go area, even the local population is not being allowed to pass. Please pray for Mr. Khan. It will be good,” he wrote on Twitter. 

“Our team in Attock has been continuously trying since last night to get the power of attorney signed from Khan, but it has not been signed yet. So we will approach the court tomorrow if the power of attorney not sign today,” Intazar Hussain Panutha said. 

• Lawyers associations reaction

Meanwhile the Supreme Court Bar Association President Abid Zuberi strongly reacted over the local judge Hamayun Dilawar vreict against Khan and alleged  that a rushed conviction and sentencing of the PTI chairman by Dilawar showed his “bias against Khan”.

Zuberi wondered about the manner in which the PTI chairman was arrested, saying “his arrest is astonishing as the court in Islamabad had not released the verdict and Khan was arrested in Lahore”.

Lahore High Court Bar Association also condemned the controversial verdict against Khan and called it against the law. 

Ruling allaince leader and advisor to Prime Minister Mohsin Dawar, who has been critical of PTI policies when they were in power, also slammed the verdict  “A PM was convicted on an iqama and now another on selling a wrist watch. Politicians get discredited over such trivial matters while Generals get away with treason. Politicians keep getting used and then are discarded like Imran Khan. We keep going round and round in circles," he tweeted.