Pakistan tightens net on Imran Khan incarceration
LONDON, United Kingdom – Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan has reportedly been totally isolated, his contact with the outside world having been terminated.
Khan is being held in solitary confinement serving a prison term which many in the country, together with international human rights organizations, say was orchestrated by political opponents.
Jemima Goldsmith, KHan’s former wife and mother to his two sons, took to X on Tuesday to sound the alarm.
“In the last few weeks there have been serious and concerning developments regarding my sons’ father, Imran Khan’s treatment in prison. The Pakistan authorities have stopped all visits to him by his family and his lawyers. They have also postponed all court hearings. In addition to cutting off in- person visits, and in defiance of a court order, his weekly calls to his sons, Sulaiman and Kasim Khan, who are British and who live in London, were stopped on 10th September,” she said.
“We have received reports that the authorities have now turned off the lights and electricity in his cell and he is no longer allowed to leave his cell at any time. The jail cook has been sent on leave. He is now completely isolated, in solitary confinement, literally in the dark, with no contact with the outside world.”
“His lawyers are concerned about his safety and well-being. These actions come in the context of ongoing targeting of Imran’s family, as well as his party (PTI) members and supporters in an attempt to silence them and all political opposition in Pakistan,” Goldsmith said.
“Imran’s nephew, Hassan Niazi, a civilian, has been detained in military custody since August 2023. More recently, Imran Khan’s sisters, Uzma and Aleema Khan, who have continued to speak out on his behalf, have also been arrested as they made their way peacefully to a demonstration and they are currently being held in jail, despite there being no proper or lawful basis for their imprisonment.”
“In June this year the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found that Imran is unlawfully and arbitrarily detained and called for his immediate release. As a matter of urgency , we are calling for Imran Khan’s release, and for the release of his sisters and nephew as well as for his sons’ contact with their father to be re-established, so that they may have assurance first-hand that he is well and not being mistreated,” Goldsmith said.
Khan, who became prime minister of Pakistan in 2018, served for four years until 2022. In May 2023 he was arrested which triggered widespread protests across the country, which have continued to this day.
Khan, a former international cricketer, was convicted of corruption and revealing state secrets, charges that most in the country consider were politically motivated. With Khan’s popularity remaining intact, and with Federal elections looming in February 2024, the government banned him from running for office, 6 months ahead of the elections. Despite the ban, Khan’s party which he leads form prison, won the most seats. Maneuverings however by other parties and factions resulted in a coalition to keep Khan’s party out of power.