LAHORE: PTI leader Yasmin Rashid was admitted to Lahore’s Services Hospital on Wednesday after falling unconscious in Kot Lakhpat Jail, according to her lawyer.
Yasmin has been in prison for almost a year now in connection with multiple cases against her regarding the events of May 9, 2023, when countrywide protests and riots broke out after the arrest of PTI founder Imran Khan.
She was first detained on May 12 last year under the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance and later arrested for her alleged involvement in the May 9 riots.
Her lawyer Rana Mudassir said her condition in jail had been very bad since yesterday and that she was not provided medical treatment facilities.
“[Medical] treatment was not provided [to her] despite continuous vomiting and an upset stomach since yesterday. Today, she fainted in jail and was brought to Services Hospital via an ambulance.”
He said she fainted due to heat in her prison cell and drinking contaminated water while not being provided any treatment.
Former PTI leader and federal minister Fawad Chaudhry said that Dr Yasmin was 70 years old, a cancer patient and had been in jail for a year.
“It is sad that Yasmin Rashid is not getting basic health facilities. This is a travesty of justice,” he said, adding that her treatment as well as of other PTI women prisoners showed the Constitution was not being implemented in the country.
“Detention of prisoners for such long periods without trial is not allowed under the Constitution. This shows that the Constitution has been suspended in Pakistan. Supreme Court should take notice of political prisoners,” he said.
