Imran Khan’s family reports health concerns during his imprisonment in Pakistan

Imran Khan has been imprisoned in Pakistan since 2023 on convictions for corruption and leaking state secrets. His three sisters say the conditions amount to an effort to pressure him into leaving politics. Uzma Khanum, one of the sisters, told The Sunday Times that she last visited Khan in December after he had spent more than four weeks in solitary confinement.

She said he reported that guards were not allowed to speak with him and that he described the isolation as worse than anything else he had experienced. Khanum added that water was coming from Khan’s right eye during the December visit. She stated that his lawyer later observed in April that Khan could not see from that eye and that a government doctor had diagnosed an 85 percent permanent vision loss linked to a blood clot.

Government response and prison access Pakistani authorities said Khan underwent surgery in late January to remove the blood clot and that he is receiving treatment. Khanum reported that family members continue to travel to Adiala prison each Tuesday for scheduled visits but are not permitted to see him despite a court order.

Khanum said the sisters have faced physical force at the prison gates in past attempts to gain access. She quoted Khan as refusing any agreement that would require him to exit politics, stating that the cause must be larger than any individual. Khan’s son stated in March that his father has been held nearly 1,000 days in a solitary cell originally intended for death-row inmates and has not spoken with his children since March 2022.