Imprisoned since August 2023, former prime minister faces politically motivated cases after impeachment in 2022
A supporter of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party holds a cellphone with a picture of Khan during a protest over concerns about their leader’s health in Karachi, Pakistan, November 28, 2025. REUTERS
The sons of Pakistan’s jailed former prime minister Imran Khan have expressed deep concern that authorities may be hiding “something irreversible” about his condition after more than three weeks with no evidence that he is still alive.
Speaking to Reuters, Imran’s son Kasim Khan said the family has had no direct or verifiable contact with him, despite a court order mandating weekly prison visits. “Not knowing if your father is safe, injured or even alive is a form of psychological torture,” he said. “Today we have no verifiable information whatsoever about his condition. Our biggest fear is that something irreversible is being hidden from us”.
Read: Officials are allaying fears about Imran’s health
The family has repeatedly applied for access to Imran’s personal doctor, who has been barred from examining him for over a year, Kasim added. Pakistan’s interior ministry did not respond to requests for comment. A prison official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Imran was in good health and was not aware of any plans to move him to a higher security facility.
Imran, 72, has been in prison since August 2023, convicted in several cases he claims were politically motivated after he was removed from office in a parliamentary vote in 2022. His first conviction, known as the Toshakhana case, involved charges of illegally selling gifts received in office. Subsequent convictions added long sentences, including 10 years for leaking a diplomatic cable and 14 years in a graft case related to the Al-Qadir Trust, a charity project involving improper land deals.
Imran’s party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), has maintained that the charges are aimed at excluding him from public life and elections.
The family’s anxiety increases due to a lack of information
The family say the lack of communication has fueled fears of a deliberate attempt to push Imran out of the public eye. TV channels have reportedly been instructed not to show Imran’s name or picture, leaving only a single grainy court image online since his imprisonment.
“This isolation is deliberate,” Kasim said. “They are afraid 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 lives in London with their mother, Jemima Goldsmith, have remained largely removed from Pakistan’s dynastic politics.
Read more: PTI stages protest outside Adiala Jail
Kasim remembered the last time he saw his father in November 2022 after an assassination. “That image has stayed with me ever since. Seeing our father in that state is something you don’t forget,” he said.
He further added, “We were told he would recover in time. Now, after weeks of total silence and no evidence of life, this memory has a different weight.”
The family is pursuing national and international avenues, including appeals to human rights organizations, demanding that court visits be restored immediately. “This is not just a political dispute,” Kasim said. “It is an emergency for human rights. The pressure must come from all directions. We draw strength from him, but we must know that he is safe”.
