Ex-PM Imran Khan healthy but cut off in Pakistan jail, sister says | Imran Khan News

After the meeting, the brother said Imran Khan is ‘physically fine’ but is ‘very angry’ at being isolated.

Pakistan’s jailed former prime minister Imran Khan is healthy but struggling with largely solitary conditions in prison, his sister has said, becoming the first member of the family to be allowed to visit him in weeks.

Uzma Khanum, a doctor, gave this information on Tuesday while speaking to reporters in Rawalpindi, the city where her brother is imprisoned.

“He is physically fine,” Khanum said. “But he is kept inside all the time and only goes out for short periods of time. There is no contact with anyone.”

Khan described Khan as “very angry” about being so isolated and said he considered the resulting “mental torture” to be “worse than physical abuse.”

He said their brief meeting was closely monitored and no mobile devices were allowed during it.

Supporters of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party had gathered outside Adiala jail since Tuesday morning to hear about his well being.

Ahead of Khanum’s visit, both PTI and Khan’s family had expressed concerns that none of his relatives or associates had been allowed to meet him for nearly a month, with one of his sons telling Reuters last week of his fears that “something irreversible is being hidden from us”.

On Tuesday, the former leader’s spokesperson Zulfikar Bukhari urged authorities to allow Khan’s relatives and legal team to meet him regularly.

His family also wants his personal doctor to examine him, which has not happened for over a year.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, an independent rights monitor, said it was “gravely concerned” by reports of Khan’s detention conditions.

Pakistani officials argue that Khan is not being mistreated, while Interior Minister Talal Chaudhry has said that prison visits are the responsibility of prison authorities rather than the government.

Bandi, 73, who used to be a professional cricketer, served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan from 2018 to April 2022, when he was ousted in a no-confidence vote.

He has been in jail since August 2023 and has been convicted on multiple charges, including corruption and revealing state secrets. He has since been acquitted of some of the charges against him. Khan denied any wrongdoing, saying the cases against him were politically motivated.

Khan remains popular among many Pakistanis. His party won the most votes in the 2024 elections, 4.5 million votes ahead of its nearest rival. However, rival parties ousted PTI and formed a coalition government.