London, United Kingdom – Sulaiman and Kasim Khan have not heard their father’s voice in almost six months. The last time they spoke to Imran Khan, the imprisoned former prime minister of Pakistan and cricket legend, was over Eid al-Fitr in March. The call lasted 20 minutes.
He frantically asks about our lives and gives us advice. But when we ask about him, he very quickly shuts it down. He doesn’t seem to want to talk too much about how he is.
Three years have passed since Khan, 73, was imprisoned in Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail. He has faced more than 100 legal cases since his 2022 ouster in a vote of no confidence, including charges of bribery, leaking state secrets and illegally selling state gifts. He denies all of the accusations against him.
All of his convictions but one have been suspended or overturned, with appeals pending. Khan’s family and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party believe the charges are politically motivated. Two of his sisters, Uzma and Noreen, were recently allowed to see him.
They said it was the first visit they had had in months. He’s been mentally tortured with this solitary confinement,” Sulaiman, 29, said. He’s having palpitations due to severe anxiety,” said Kasim.
To hear he’s facing anxiety, it’s unfathomable.” Khan’s lawyers reported in February that he had lost 85 percent of the vision in his right eye. Apart from that brief visit from his sisters, none of the other orders have been followed.” Pakistan’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, in a statement sent to Al Jazeera, rejected the family’s allegations, that Khan has been denied appropriate medical care “or that the government failed to comply with the directions of the Honourable Supreme Court regarding his medical examination”. On August 18, a three-judge Supreme Court bench ruled that Khan be moved to the private Shifa International Hospital within two days, that he be granted weekly family visits and twice-weekly calls with his sons, and ordered that his personal physician and sister, both doctors, be allowed to take part in his medical care.
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