Shehbaz seeks 'reasonable' facilities for Nawaz in jail

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) president Shehbaz Sharif on Monday wrote a letter to caretaker Prime Minister Justice (retd) Nasirul Mulk requesting him to issue directives for provision of proper facilities to his brother Nawaz Sharif in Adiala Jail.

In the letter, he stated that he noted during his visit to the former premier that he was not being given a newspaper. He has been given a mattress while washroom at his disposal was a shambles, he added.

Shehbaz complained that there is no air conditioner in his elder brother’s cell nor are there proper medical facilities.

He said his brother has history of diabetes and heart ailment and therefore needed timely medical attention and medicines.

He demanded that the ex-PM’s doctor should be permitted to visit him twice a day to examine his health.

It may mentioned here that the Punjab government has notified ‘Better Class’ category for Sharif and his son-in-law retired Captain Safdar in Adiala jail on their request while Maryam Nawaz didn’t apply for the better class.

According to the B-Class category, the PML-N supreme leader and his son-in-law will have facilities of small table and chair, a mattress, ceiling fan, 21-inch TV and a newspaper.

Capt Safdar, who was arrested on July 08, had already been availing better class facilities in the jail since he was a former military officer and a former parliamentarian.

Maryam Nawaz, however, didn’t apply for the B-Class facilities. In a letter, she wrote: “I was offered to apply for better class facilities by the superintendant of the jail, as per the rules that I refused of my own will. This is purely my own decision, taken without any pressure from anyone.”

PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif, his mother, nephew Hamza Shehbaz and other family members met Nawaz and Maryam in Adiala prison on Saturday evening.

The meeting took place in the room of jail superintendent amid tight security and lasted more than two hours.