Ex-PM Imran Khan healthy but cut off in Pakistan jail, sister says

Imran Khan, the former prime minister of Pakistan, is recovering from his lengthy jailbreak but is struggling with the largely solitary conditions, his sister has reported. She is the first family member to be granted the right to visit him in recent weeks.

Doctor Uzma Khanum, who is a doctor, updated reporters in Rawalpindi on Tuesday while speaking to them.

Khanum remarked that “he is physically well.” He is only allowed to leave for a brief period, though, and is kept inside all the time. Nobody gets in touch with them.

Khanum said that because of his isolation, he felt “very angry” and that the outcome was “worse than physical abuse.”

She noted that their brief meeting was closely monitored and that no mobile devices were permitted inside.

Early on Tuesday, Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporters gathered outside Adiala Jail to check on him.

One of Khanum’s sons told Reuters last week that he feared “that something irreversible is being hidden from us” after PTI and Khan’s family had expressed concern that no one had been able to see him for almost a month.

Zulfikar Bukhari, the ex-leader’s representative, demanded on Tuesday that the authorities allow Khan’s family and legal team to come see him more frequently.

His family wants to see him again soon, something that hasn’t happened in a year.

Independent rights monitor Pakistan’s Human Rights Commission expressed serious concern over the reports of Khan’s detention conditions.

Interior Minister Talal Chaudhry claimed that jail officials should visit prisoners rather than the government, while Pakistan’s authorities contend Khan is not being mistreated.

The 73-year-old former professional cricket player was in charge of Pakistan’s government from 2018 until April 2022, when he was removed from a no-confidence vote.

He has been sentenced to a number of counts, including corruption and leaking state secrets, since August 2023. Some of the charges against him have since been expunged. Khan denies any wrongdoing, claiming that the allegations against him were motivated by politics.