Former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan has not received adequate medical treatment in prison after suffering partial vision loss in one eye, his spokesman claims.
Speaking to Sky News’ The World with Yalda Hakim, Zulfi Bukhari said Mr Khan’s personal doctor has not been allowed to examine the imprisoned former leader, who is said to have lost 85% of vision in his right eye.
On Sunday, a “fully equipped ambulance” carrying a team of doctors was sent to the prison, but Mr Bukhari questioned why Mr Khan, who has been in prison since August 2023, was not taken to “an appropriate hospital with the appropriate equipment”.
The team of doctors then relayed information to Mr Khan’s personal physician, but “this all still remains in hearsay”, Mr Bukhari said.
“Why are we getting phone calls and just being told reports? Why is his personal doctor not allowed to be present? Or at the very least, see him now after they’ve done the check-up? The same goes for any family member,” he questioned.
Mr Khan, 73, has been in isolation at the Adiala prison for about 90 days and has not been able to see his family, Mr Bukhari claimed.
“Why is he being kept in secrecy in isolation? And why is this whole procedure being done in this big secret format, which no one else is allowed to take part in?” he said, demanding that Mr Khan’s personal physician and one family member be allowed to see him.
‘Family not informed of surgery’
In January, the Pakistani government announced Mr Khan underwent a brief procedure at a hospital in Islamabad for his eye condition.
Mr Khan’s family or his legal team were never informed of his eye conditions, Mr Bukhari said, adding this was “a basic right for a prisoner”.
Pakistan’s Supreme Court allowed his lawyer, Salman Safdar, to see him in prison, after which Mr Safdar told the court about Mr Khan’s vision loss, resulting in the court ordering a medical assessment by a panel of doctors.
Supporters of Mr Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party (PTI) have staged protests in Islamabad and other cities, demanding that the former prime minister be moved from prison to a hospital for specialised treatment for his eye condition.
Cabinet minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry wrote on X on Monday that a detailed medical examination of Khan was performed inside the prison, and doctors concluded Mr Khan’s eyesight had improved and “no major complications have emerged”.
Dr Aasim Yusuf, Mr Khan’s personal physician, said on X that the team of eye specialists treating Mr Khan had told him about an “improvement” in his eyesight, but he could not confirm or deny this assessment as he has not been allowed to see or examine Mr Khan himself.
Supporters of Imran Khan protest outside the Islamabad High Court, in Islamabad, Pakistan, in December. Pic: AP
‘Inhumane to stop family from seeing him’
The Supreme Court also ordered a phone call between Mr Khan and his sons.
Sulaiman and Kasim Khan told Yalda Hakim in December that they had not spoken to their father for months and fear they might never see their father again, as he is being “psychologically tortured” in a “death cell”.
They were allowed to speak to him for 20 minutes over the weekend, Mr Bukhari said. Mr Khan’s sister, Aleema Khan, wrote on X on Saturday that her brother was “extremely happy” to hear his sons’ voices after a long gap.
But his sons’ visas to visit their father in the Pakistani prison keep being delayed.
“I mean, not granting them a visa is, is ridiculous. It’s an online system. The basic things are there, whose kids they are, where they were, why they’re coming, where they’re staying, all of that,” Mr Bukhari claimed.
“So denying them a visa to go see their father, who’s been in prison and they haven’t seen him for probably three odd years, is just inhumane. They haven’t outright rejected it, but they keep saying there’s some technical issue.”
‘It is ripping the country apart’
While Mr Khan is in prison, Pakistan was “deteriorating”, Mr Bukhari said, “but the focus is just on how do we keep Imran Khan caged away, so no one can see him, no one can hear him, and no one can speak to him, and he should not be able to get anything out in the public”.
He said this was “ripping the country apart”.
Mr Khan has been in jail since his August 2023 arrest after he was handed a three-year prison term for illegally selling state gifts. In January, he was handed a 14-year sentence in a corruption case, and in December, he was sentenced to 17 years in prison for buying state gifts at a knock-down price.
The former leader was convicted in a string of cases that he says were politically driven following his ousting in a 2022 parliamentary vote.
When asked whether Mr Khan believed that he would be released from jail someday, Mr Bukhari replied: “He would be thinking that he is not only going to come out of jail one day, he is also going to come out and lead the country the way it’s supposed to be led one day.”
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He added he did not think Mr Khan was delusional, as “he’s always succeeded in whatever he put his vision towards”.
Mr Khan said: “He’s always made it, he’s always done it against all odds, and I don’t see how this is going to be any different.”
Sky News has contacted the Pakistani government for comment.
Before launching his political career, Mr Khan was best known as a star of international cricket and for leading Pakistan to Cricket World Cup victory in 1992.
