Law Minister says injection administered, procedure successful; PTI founder gets all facilities as per law
A combination photo of Federal Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar and PTI founder Imran Khan. PHOTO: APP/EXPRESS
ISLAMABAD:
Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar on Tuesday informed the Senate that Pakistan Tehreek e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan was taken to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) on his own request.
PIMS previously confirmed that Imran was taken to hospital where, after his consent was obtained, he received an anti-VEGF intravitreal injection to treat a right central retinal vein occlusion. PTI rejected the PIMS report on Imran’s eye treatment and demanded that he be treated at Shaukat Khanum Hospital and that his family be allowed to meet him.
Speaking in the Senate today, the law minister called PIMS Islamabad’s premier public tertiary hospital and said a medical board had examined Imran, administered the necessary injection and noted positive progress.
Read: Imran Khan taken to hospital for minor eye surgery, Tarar confirms
Tarar stated that the former premier reportedly asked to be taken in the evening if there were any potential problems related to law and order. “The PTI founder faced a specific problem,” Tarar said, adding that Imran personally requested that the injection be administered to him at PIMS.
Stating that Imran’s health was “perfectly fine” and that his procedure was successful, Tarar said there were no further questions regarding the former prime minister. He also stated that the diagnosis and treatment details had been officially shared through a press briefing by the Executive Director of PIMS.
Tarar assured the Senate that if any further medical needs arose, all facilities would be made available as per law. He said the federal government fully respected human rights and had never issued any directive to deny medical treatment to any prisoner.
However, the Law Minister stressed that any further relief regarding medical assistance, meetings or prison conditions must be sought through the Islamabad High Court, which was the competent appellate forum in the case.
The minister further stated that Imran was a convicted prisoner in corruption cases and was provided all medical and legal facilities in accordance with the law and prison rules.
Responding to a point raised by the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Allama Raja Nasir Abbas, Tarar said that the constitution guaranteed rights to every individual, but the enforcement of those rights was regulated through legal procedures.
Read more: PTI rejects PIMS report, calls for Imran Khan’s treatment at Shaukat Khanum
He said the former prime minister was convicted after a full open trial lasting over a year in a National Accountability Bureau corruption case and was currently serving his sentence as a locked-up prisoner.
The minister said the former prime minister was also convicted in another reference involving undervaluation of a jewelery set where assets worth millions of rupees were shown at a much lower price, causing loss to the national exchequer.
