Imran Khan’s sons fear irreversible harm as weeks pass with no proof of life
The family has repeatedly requested access for Khan’s personal doctor, who has reportedly not been allowed to examine him for over a year
PTC Web Desk: The family of Pakistan's jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan has raised fresh alarm over his wellbeing. They have expressed apprehensions that the authorities may be hiding "something irreversible" about his condition. His son, Kasim Khan, said it had been more than three weeks without any evidence that Imran Khan is alive, despite a court order permitting weekly visits.
Kasim said the family has had do direct and verifiable contact with him for months. He said not knowing whether your father is safe, injured or even alive is a form of psychological torture.
He added that there had been no independent confirmation of Imran Khan’s condition and that the family fears a deliberate cover-up.
The family has repeatedly requested access for Khan’s personal doctor, who has reportedly not been allowed to examine him for over a year. Pakistan’s interior ministry has not commented, though a jail official, on the condition of anonymity, claimed that Imran Khan is in good health and denied any plans to move him to a higher-security prison.
Khan has been in jail since August 2023 following a series of convictions, which he says are politically motivated after his ouster in a 2022 parliamentary vote. His first conviction stemmed from allegations of unlawfully selling state gifts in the Toshakhana case. Additional verdicts led to longer sentences, including 10 years for allegedly leaking a diplomatic cable and 14 years in a graft case tied to the Al-Qadir Trust. His party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), maintains the cases aim to sideline him from politics and public life.
The family says the near-total communication blackout has intensified their concerns. Television channels have reportedly been instructed not to show Khan’s image or name, leaving only an old, blurry court photo circulating online.
“This isolation is intentional,” Kasim said, alleging authorities are trying to keep Khan out of public view. “They are scared of him. He is Pakistan’s most popular leader and they know they cannot defeat him democratically.”
Kasim and his older brother, Suleiman Isa Khan, both based in London with their mother, Jemima Goldsmith, have largely stayed away from Pakistan’s political sphere. They last saw their father in November 2022 after he survived an assassination attempt.
“That image has never left me,” Kasim said. “Now, after weeks of silence and no proof of life, it carries a much heavier meaning.”
The family is appealing to courts and international human-rights bodies, urging immediate restoration of court-ordered access.