ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan to be moved to a private hospital for treatment, his party said, granting a longstanding demand by his family and supporters after months of alarm over his eyesight and broader health.
Khan, 73, has been in prison since August 2023 and was diagnosed earlier this year with a retinal condition in his right eye that his lawyers warned could cause permanent vision loss. His party has repeatedly demanded that he be treated at Islamabad’s Shifa International Hospital by doctors of his choosing rather than at government medical facilities.
“The Supreme Court has ordered to shift Imran Khan at Shifa International Hospital for his medical treatment,” the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party said in a brief statement.
His lawyer Naeem Haider Panjutha said the court had directed authorities to move the former prime minister within 48 hours and keep him there until Sept. 16.
“Supreme Court has rightly ordered for Imran Khan to be moved to Shifa International,” Khan’s spokesperson Zulfikar Bukhari told Arab News.
“It’s a very welcomed order and we wish it had happened sooner so his eye and general health would not have deteriorated this much. He should remain in hospital until all doctors are satisfied.”
There was no immediate statement from the government on the order.
Describing Tuesday’s court order as a major development, PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja said they have been asked by the court to ensure that party supporters do not gather outside the hospital.
“I told the court, ‘Every hospital, including Shifa International Hospital, is a sacred place. There are other patients there as well. We will ensure that no one’s treatment is obstructed’,” he said at a presser.
“I appeal to supporters of Imran Khan, who are spread across Pakistan in tens of millions, that the order given by the Supreme Court and the promise we have made should be obliged.”
Concern over Khan’s health emerged in January when he was diagnosed with central retinal vein occlusion in his right eye, a blockage of the main vein carrying blood away from the retina that can cause serious or permanent vision loss.
He was taken from Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail to the state-run Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in Islamabad on Jan. 24, where the government said he underwent a 20-minute procedure with his consent.
PTI and Khan’s family said they were not informed beforehand about the transfer or procedure and accused authorities of excluding his relatives, lawyers and personal physicians from decisions about his treatment.
Khan was taken to PIMS again in February for a second injection to treat the eye condition, prompting fresh objections from his party over what it described as secrecy surrounding his medical care.
Prison authorities told the Supreme Court this week that Khan’s vision had since returned to “almost normal” following treatment and said he had been regularly examined by government doctors.
But a medical-board report submitted ahead of Tuesday’s hearing also recorded fluctuations in Khan’s blood pressure and anxiety, recommending more interaction with his immediate family and spouse, as well as exercise and access to reading material and television to help manage his condition.
Khan was removed from office in a parliamentary no-confidence vote in April 2022 and has since faced a string of criminal cases, including those involving state gifts and corruption. He says the prosecutions are politically motivated and intended to keep him out of politics, allegations the government denies.
PTI, which retains a large support base despite Khan’s imprisonment, announced a protest campaign this month to demand his release, marking three years since his arrest with rallies across Pakistan on Aug. 5.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, a senior member of Khan’s party, also warned that PTI supporters could march on Islamabad in September if the former premier was not released.
