Rana Fasi PTI

If the worst does happen, they may try to claim it was from natural causes or old age. My father, when he went to prison 3 years ago, was about the fittest and healthiest 70 year old man you could possibly find. He had no underlying health issues (despite being shot in the leg when the regime tried and failed to have him killed in an assassination attempt). His health is deteriorating because of the inhumane treatment he has been subjected to in prison, which the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture has repeatedly stated amounts to torture. Again, make no mistake - the regime will be responsible if he is killed in prison.

If he’s safe as you claim, why is the regime ignoring the Supreme Court’s order to have him assessed in a private hospital (Shifa International), rather than by stooges at a government facility? Why haven’t they allowed anyone to see him since August? Even murderers are granted these most basic of rights in prison. They’re clearly hiding something, as they could easily dispel people’s concerns if their claims that we are lying are true. Remember, when PTI was in power, Nawaz Sharif, who, unlike my father, is genuinely corrupt - as proven by the Panama Papers - was allowed to travel to London for medical reasons while serving his prison sentence and remained there, living in luxury for 4 years. Yet these fascists fear my father so much that they won’t even allow him a visit from his own doctors or an assessment at a private hospital IN Pakistan, as ordered by the highest court in the country. Why are you so desperate to cheerlead for a fascist regime?

No one has seen or heard from my father since August, when he explicitly said that he was being tortured and that the regime was trying to kill him like Egypt’s government did Morsi. The UN Special Rapporteur on torture has repeatedly stated that his treatment amounts to torture. Pakistan’s fascist regime, led by military dictator Asim Munir, continue to ignore the Supreme Court order from August for my father to be assessed and treated at the private Shifa International Hospital, as well as for regular access to family visits and access to his lawyers. It is clear that they are trying to kill him as he is by far the most popular political figure in the country, and they fear him. If the worst happens, no one should make any mistake who is responsible. It is Asim Munir with the approval of the illegitimate Pakistani government. Every government that continues to legitimise this regime will be complicit in this and the resulting chaos and destabilisation it causes in the region. No state that is engaging in friendly relations with this fascist Pakistani regime can truly claim to uphold the values of democracy or human rights.