Pakistan's Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan to be shifted to a private hospital after Khan's family and political supporters repeatedly raised concerns about the 73 year old's deteriorating health in Rawalpindi's Adiala jail. The founder of the opposition party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has been imprisoned since August 2023 and is currently serving a 14-year sentence on corruption charges he says are politically motivated. The former prime minister was ousted in a parliamentary no-confidence vote in April 2022.
Khan and his supporters say Pakistan's influential military is trying to keep him out of politics, an allegation the military denies. Despite his remaining behind bars, Khan remains politically popular. Despite a crackdown on the PTI following Khan's arrest, the candidates backed by him performed strongly in the February 2024 elections.
"Three years in prison have not removed Khan from Pakistani politics. He remains PTI's biggest political asset, but the party's reliance on him has also exposed weaknesses in its leadership and organization," Raza Rumi, a US-based Pakistani political analyst, told DW. The transfer of Khan to the Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad for medical assessment has added a new dimension to the debate over his future and the possibility of political negotiations.
However, Khan's adviser Sayed Zulfi Bukhari rejected speculation that court decision was the result of any political deal with the government. "There is no deal between Imran Khan and anyone. This is the Supreme Court's decision, which is very much welcomed," Bukhari said.
Pakistan's Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said in a video statement issued on Tuesday night that the government would challenge the Supreme Court order, claiming it was unlawful. The minister said a convicted prisoner must be treated inside the jail or at a public hospital according to law, adding that he was requesting Khan's medical tests be carried out at a government hospital instead of a private facility. "Legally, Khan has not been granted bail nor have his convictions been suspended.
He will remain a prisoner, and the hospital executive ward shall serve as a sub-jail. Unfortunately, most ordinary prisoners with far more serious ailments are never allowed such facilities by the courts," Osama Malik, a legal expert, told DW. Pakistan's Minister of State for Interior, Talal Chaudhry, told DW that "Khan's cases will be decided by the courts." PTI's Bukhari told DW that Khan "hasn't been receiving the right medical care in prison." "That is why it has got to this stage.
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