Maryam Nawaz Recalls Solitary Confinement, Calls for Prison Reforms

ISLAMABAD: Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz said she was kept in solitary confinement for 24 hours a day during her imprisonment in Adiala Jail, describing the experience as deeply distressing and emphasizing the need for comprehensive prison reforms.

Speaking at a prison reforms conference attended by Yahya Afridi, the chief ministers of all four provinces, and other officials, Maryam Nawaz said she did not intend to make a political speech but wanted to share her personal experience to highlight the importance of improving prison conditions.

She said solitary confinement had a significant impact on her mental health and that only those who have experienced imprisonment can truly understand its hardships. According to her, the experience helped her understand the difficulties faced by inmates and motivated her to introduce reforms in Punjab’s prison system.

Maryam Nawaz said Punjab’s prisons now provide video-link facilities for inmates and that several modernization measures have been introduced based on lessons learned from her own time in custody.

Recalling her imprisonment, she said she and her father, Nawaz Sharif, were jailed at the same time while her mother was seriously ill, but they were not allowed to meet her.

She also described a medical emergency during her detention, saying her blood sugar level dropped and there was no immediate assistance available. She claimed that while trying to consume jaggery to recover, the container broke, forcing her to pick it up from the floor, where it had mixed with broken glass.

Maryam Nawaz further said there was no privacy in her prison cell, which lacked partitions between the sleeping area and the washroom. She added that hearing the cries of children housed in a nearby cell left a lasting impact on her and reinforced her commitment to improving prison facilities.

Addressing the same event, Azam Nazeer Tarar said prison reforms should benefit all inmates rather than being focused on any individual political leader. He said Pakistan should move away from its colonial-era prison system to ensure humane treatment for every prisoner.