Pakistan’s ex-PM Imran Khan back in jail after brief hospital visit
Khan was moved early on Friday from jail to the state-run PIMS Hospital, where he spent a few hours before being returned to prison.
Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan has been transferred back to prison after a brief stay at a hospital in the capital, Islamabad.
Khan, 73, was moved from Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail to the state-run PIMS Hospital early on Friday, where doctors conducted a medical checkup amid long-running concerns over his health.
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The founder of the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party had been expected to undergo the examination at the privately run Shifa International Hospital, but was taken to PIMS due to a “security situation created by PTI workers,” according to Information Minister Attaullah Tarar.
Earlier, security had been tightened around Shifa ahead of Khan’s expected arrival. A senior official said that hundreds of police and paramilitary personnel had been deployed in the area.
The minister confirmed that Khan was taken to the hospital during the night, where a specialised medical team, including a cardiologist, an ophthalmologist and a physician, examined the former prime minister and “declared him medically fit”. Tarar added that Khan’s sister, Uzma Khan, was present during the entire visit.
The hospital visit followed a Supreme Court order on Tuesday directing authorities to move the imprisoned former leader to hospital within two days. The court said an independent medical board should assess Khan’s condition and include his personal physician.
The court order followed a report submitted to the court on Monday by Adiala jail’s superintendent, detailing an August 10 assessment by a cardiac board. The report recorded fluctuating blood pressure and anxiety that it said was linked to contact with Khan’s family being restricted.
The government had challenged the order, but officials said preparations for Khan’s transfer were completed on Thursday.
Khan’s family and his party have repeatedly appealed to the courts over his health during the past year, particularly concerns about the vision in his right eye.
Courts have twice declined similar requests to move Khan to hospital since February. In one case, the Islamabad High Court instead ordered an assessment by a medical board.
Khan lost power in April 2022 after losing a no-confidence motion in the parliament. He has been in prison since August 2023, when a court convicted him in a case involving the sale of state gifts, charges which he has consistently denied.
The former cricket star and his wife Bushra Bibi have since been convicted in several other cases and have denied all wrongdoing, saying the prosecutions are politically motivated.
