The sons of former Prime Minister Imran Khan have appealed to international attention to what they describe as their father’s “inhuman” imprisonment, and in particular calls on former US President Donald Trump to use his influence to support his release.
In a broad interview with British journalist Piers Morgan, the two brothers expressed deep concern about their deteriorating health and prison conditions for their father, who has been in custody in Adiala Prison since August 2023.
“We would urge Pakistan’s leaders to respect democracy, respect the will of the Pakistani people – which was clear despite the massive rig of February’s election – and to give him a fair trial,” said Sulaiman Khan.
The brothers, who have largely avoided the limelight in the past, broke their public silence over their father’s prison in May this year.
The brothers said they were forced to speak because of the desperate circumstances about their father’s detention. “We are quite private people … But it comes to a scene where we are desperate. We want to do what we can,” Kasim said.
Sulaiman and Kasim revealed that they have not seen their father in almost three years and have not spoken to him for over four months.
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“A Pakistani court required weekly phone calls, but we would sometimes go two or three months without contact,” Sulaiman said. “Often we would receive a message at 2am that said we would talk to him at 9am. If we missed it, the chance was gone – it rolled for another two months.”
The brothers said they had not been authorized for a single phone call since their last public interview, suggesting that the authorities were using this to “cause him further distress.”
The brothers described Khan’s current conditions in prison and claimed he was limited to a small cell for 22 hours a day with limited access to books, his legal team and even his doctor.
“He washes himself with visibly cloudy, discolored water. Hygiene levels are abysmale,” Kasim said. “Ten people have died in this prison because of hepatitis C, which is assumed to have spread through unsanitarian conditions.”
They also claimed that the authorities had limited access to the few books Khan was allowed to read, saying that his physical and mental well -being was increasingly at risk.
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“There have been moments where I’ve been thinking: Should I see him again?” Kasim said quietly. “This is the longest I have gone without talking to him. The fear is very real.”
The brothers said they had explored the opportunity to visit Pakistan to see their father, but were warned by sources within the Pakistani government and their own extended network, which they would probably be arrested on arrival.
“We still applied for Visa and have not yet received any answer,” they said, adding that they remained hopeful of traveling to Pakistan when the circumstances allowed.
Sulaiman and Kasim also called on the international community – especially US President Donald Trump – to use his influence to support their father’s release.
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“If anyone can make a difference, it’s him,” Sulaiman said. “Trump and my father had a good relationship when both were in office. They respected each other and we know he is one of the few people who could get the establishment in Pakistan to act.”
They also recognized the support of US special presidential turning Richard Grenell, who has publicly gone for Khan’s release on social media.
“We would very much like to talk to Trump or find a way he could help. At the end of the day, all we want to free our father, restore democracy in Pakistan and ensure that his basic human rights are respected,” Sulaiman said.
