Jailed PTI founder Imran Khan’s son, Kasim Khan, fears that authorities are concealing “something irreversible” about his father’s condition.
The remarks come as the PTI and Imran’s sisters have protested and staged sit-ins outside Adiala jail, where he is imprisoned, after being barred from meeting him for over three weeks.
As court-ordered prison visits stay blocked and rumours swirl about possible prison transfers, Kasim told Reuters the family has had no direct or verifiable contact with the ex-prime minister, despite a judicial order for weekly meetings.
“Not knowing whether your father is safe, injured or even alive is a form of psychological torture,” he said in written remarks, adding that there had been no independently confirmed communication for a couple of months.
“Today we have no verifiable information at all about his condition,” he added. “Our greatest fear is that something irreversible is being hidden from us.”
The family has repeatedly sought access for Imran’s personal physician, who has not been allowed to examine him for more than a year, he added.
The interior ministry did not respond to a Reuters request for comment on the matter.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a jail official told Reuters that Imran was in good health, adding that he was not aware of any plan for a move to a higher-security facility.
Imran, 72, has been in jail since August 2023, convicted in a string of cases he says were politically driven following his ouster in a 2022 no-confidence vote.
His first conviction was in the Toshakhana case and centred on accusations that he unlawfully sold gifts received in office. Later verdicts added lengthy jail terms, including 10 years in the cipher case and 14 years in the Al Qadir Trust corruption case.
The PTI has alleged that the prosecution’s aim in cases against Imran was to exclude him from public life and elections, which were held in 2024.
Family anxiety deepened by lack of information
Imran’s family says the lack of communication has fuelled fears over what it calls a deliberate effort to push Imran out of public sight.
“This isolation is intentional,” Kasim said, referring to the authorities he believes are keeping his father cut off.
“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, who live in London with their mother, Jemima Goldsmith, have kept a distance from Pakistan’s politics.
The brothers have spoken publicly only sparingly, mainly about their father’s imprisonment.
