Imprisoned former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan’s sons have expressed fear that their father is being “slowly killed” in jail. The two sons—Kasim Khan and Sulaiman Khan—have said that their family has received no independent assessment of their 73-year-old father’s condition.
Imran Khan, who served as the prime minister of Pakistan from 2018 to 2022, has been lodged at Adiala prison in Rawalpindi. He is in jail for more than three years— since August 2023—serving a 14-year-sentence.
Both the sons—Kasim, 27, and Sulaiman, 29, are from Imran Khan’s former wife Jemima Goldsmith, and they live in London with her. Jemima Goldsmith began a second innings by getting married to Australian multi-millionaire businessman Cameron O’Reilly.
In an interview to The Guardian newspaper of London, the two sons accused Pakistan’s army chief General Asim Munir of pursuing a “personal vendetta” against their father. “We believe they’re trying to slowly kill him in there,” said Sulaiman. “The one with the real vendetta here is the army chief Asim Munir.” He linked Imran Khan’s treatment to his earlier relationship with Munir. The Pakistan government rejected the allegations levelled by Khan’s two sons.
The allegations come at a time when Supreme Court of Pakistan is hearing a case about Imran Khan’s medical treatment and his access to family members. Even though the court ordered on August 18 that Khan be transferred from Adiala jail to the private Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad for a medical assessment and treatment, the government shifted him to the state-run Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) before bringing him back to jail.
The government said it was security concerns for which the ex-PM could not be transferred to the Islamabad hospital. His family disputed this and filed contempt proceedings.
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In the jail, cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan is locked in what Sulaiman said is “a tiny 6x8ft cell without human contact”. He said Imran Khan had not been allowed to get new books to read for months and had not been allowed to meet his family and an independent doctor. His eye condition has also been neglected, and he has “probably almost lost sight in one eye”.
The Pakistan government described the claims by Imran Khan’s sons as “fake propaganda” and said the ex-PM had access to home-cooked food, nuts, bottled water, exercise equipment, family visits and regular medical examinations. The government denied that Imran Khan was being held under punitive solitary confinement.
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Pakistan’s newly established Federal Constitutional Court on Tuesday, September 15, sought records from the Supreme Court and high courts of cases regarding Khan’s transfer to PIMS. Supreme Court of Pakistan summoned the attorney general on Wednesday as it resumed hearing petitions concerning Khan’s medical treatment and meetings with his family.
When he was prime minister, Khan had demoted Munir, the tensions between them later contributed to the way Khan has been treated since he was removed from office, said Sulaiman. He and his brother have been trying to travel to Pakistan to visit their father in prison, but have faced difficulties obtaining visas.
