Ex PM Imran Khan back in jail
Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan was taken to hospital for a medical examination and returned to prison within hours on Friday, prompting his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party to accuse the authorities of violating a Supreme Court order.
Khan was examined at the state-run Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in Islamabad and was declared medically fit before being transferred back to Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi at around 5am, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said.
The Supreme Court had ordered authorities earlier this week to transfer Khan to Islamabad’s Shifa International Hospital within two days and allow him access to a medical panel that included his personal physician.
PTI said both the change of hospital and Khan’s lack of access to his personal doctor amounted to violations of the court’s directive. The party said it would file a contempt petition against the authorities.
“This is contempt of the judges. This is contempt of the Supreme Court,” Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, whose province is governed by PTI, told reporters.
Khan’s sister, Uzma Khan, who was present during his medical examination, said the former premier appeared stable but had a patch over one eye. She also alleged that Khan had been repeatedly tortured in prison.
There was no immediate response from Pakistan’s interior and law ministries or jail authorities to Reuters’ requests for comment on the allegations.
Khan’s supporters gathered in Islamabad overnight as he was taken to hospital, with crowds lining the streets and throwing flowers at the vehicle believed to be carrying him.
The development could further fuel tensions between Khan’s supporters and the government. PTI has already been preparing for a planned protest march on September 27.
Three years behind bars
Khan, a former international cricketer who became prime minister in 2018, has been imprisoned since August 2023 over a series of legal cases. He maintains that the cases against him are politically motivated, while the government denies the allegation.
PTI leaders had expected Khan to remain in hospital for several weeks after he was allowed to leave prison for a medical evaluation, his first since February.
Tarar said a team of doctors, including an ophthalmologist, cardiologist and physician, conducted a detailed examination and found Khan fit to return to prison.
Khan’s lawyers have claimed that his health has deteriorated during his imprisonment and that he has suffered significant loss of vision in his right eye. The government, however, has said medical reports found no condition requiring immediate treatment.
The dispute over Khan’s brief hospital stay is likely to add to tensions surrounding his imprisonment and the ongoing confrontation between PTI and the government.
