By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The son of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan has accused the government of endangering his father’s life and warned that it will be held responsible if he dies in custody.
Sulaiman Khan said in a series of posts on X that the family had neither seen nor heard from the 74-year-old since August, when he allegedly told them he was being tortured and feared authorities were trying to kill him. He likened his father’s position to that of Mohamed Morsi, the former Egyptian president who died during a court hearing in 2019.
“His health is deteriorating because of the inhumane treatment he has been subjected to in prison,” Sulaiman said.
He alleged that authorities had failed to comply with an August Supreme Court order requiring Khan to be assessed and treated at Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad, and to be allowed regular access to family members and lawyers. The court’s 18 August ruling also ordered prison officials to permit weekly family meetings and telephone calls with his sons.
The government denies mistreating Khan or holding him in solitary confinement. The Ministry of Information told the Associated Press in August that he was being held not under a government order but as a convicted prisoner serving sentences imposed by the courts.
What happened after the ruling is contested. Khan was taken to Shifa and examined by a six-member team of specialists, who concluded he could safely remain in prison, and he was returned to Adiala jail the same week. The court had said he should stay in hospital until its next hearing on 16 September. His sister, Uzma Khan, has since filed a contempt petition over the alleged non-implementation of the order, which the court fixed for hearing alongside the main case on the same day.
The government also sought a review of the ruling, arguing it gave Mr Khan treatment different from other prisoners. The Supreme Court registrar’s office reportedly returned the petition over procedural objections.
Concern over Khan’s health has centred on his eyesight. His family said in January that he had lost about 85 per cent of the vision in his right eye, a claim the government disputed. Jail authorities told the Supreme Court before its August order that his sight had improved significantly after treatment at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences.
Sulaiman also cited the UN special rapporteur on torture, saying the official had repeatedly stated that his father’s treatment amounted to torture. The rapporteur has warned that Khan is being held in conditions that could amount to inhuman or degrading treatment. A government aide has rejected those findings, insisting he is treated strictly in line with prison rules.
Sulaiman said his father was in exceptionally good physical condition when he was jailed three years ago, despite having survived an assassination attempt in which he was shot in the leg. He said he feared authorities might attribute any deterioration resulting in his death to natural causes or old age, and alleged they feared the former premier because of his popularity.
He also criticised foreign governments that maintain relations with Pakistan’s current leadership, arguing that such engagement was incompatible with claims of supporting democracy and human rights.
Khan was prime minister from 2018 until he lost a parliamentary no-confidence vote in April 2022. He has been imprisoned since August 2023. He faces charges in more than 100 cases and has denied all of them, describing them as politically motivated. His supporters have repeatedly raised concerns about his health and his access to legal counsel.
Sulaiman and his brother Kasim were raised in Britain after their father’s divorce from Jemima Goldsmith. They have not seen him since 2022, in the absence of a visa. They have reportedly been advised against travelling to Pakistan to campaign for his release after the arrests of other family members.
Separately, Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party on Thursday reaffirmed its support for Sohail Afridi, the ousted chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), ruling out any move to consider an alternative candidate for the office.
Afridi, whom Khan named to the post in October 2025 after his predecessor, Ali Amin Gandapur, resigned on the former prime minister’s instructions, has not been seen since the Centre imposed governor’s rule and an emergency in the province on 11 October. A junior interior minister, Tallal Chaudhry, confirmed to Reuters the next day that he and some of his cabinet members had been taken into preventive custody. A senior police official said eight people had been detained, including MNA Junaid Akbar and the assembly speaker, Babar Saleem Swati.
PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan has asked the Peshawar High Court to declare the emergency unconstitutional and to restore Mr Afridi and his cabinet to office.
In a notification issued by the party’s central secretariat “for the purpose of clarity and emphasis”, Gohar said Afridi “remains and shall continue” to serve as chief minister with the “confidence and support” of Mr Khan.
“All PTI members, office-bearers, parliamentarians and party functionaries are hereby directed not to convene or participate in any meeting, introduce any agenda, initiate or entertain any proposal, or encourage or engage in any discussion concerning the nomination, replacement or consideration for the office of chief minister,” the notification said.
“It is categorically reiterated that no one other than the founding chairman has the authority to nominate an alternative candidate or alter this decision in any manner whatsoever. His decisions in this regard are final and binding upon all party members,” it added.
In a post on X, Gohar said the party’s KP Assembly members were a “source of pride for us” and had stayed loyal to Mr Khan, complied with every decision and remained steadfast. He said the notification had been issued because of “unnecessary speculation and discussions circulating on social media and certain TV channels” about the chief minister’s post, and that decisions within the party were made solely on Mr Khan’s directives.
The move follows open dissent. Heated arguments broke out at a joint parliamentary party meeting on Tuesday that ran for more than seven hours, with some members questioning why the leadership had handed so much authority to Afridi, who holds no position in the party hierarchy.
Some criticised Gohar and Secretary General Salman Akram Raja, asking why the leadership appeared to be functioning under Afridi. They alleged that the top leadership had left everything to a chief minister who had become non-functional after governor’s rule was imposed, because of its interest in transfers, postings and financial matters in the province.
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