Imran Khan Returns to Prison After Hospital Eye Check-Up

UPDATE - follow-up to Former Pakistan PM Imran Khan back in jail after medical treatment, sources say: Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan went to a hospital in Islamabad late on Tuesday for medical treatment and has since returned to prison.

Medical Visit

Khan is imprisoned in Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi and had an eye check-up at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences. An official said Khan had blood pressure issues, received the required treatment, and went back to his prison cell. His lawyers state that the 74-year-old politician has lost significant vision in his right eye and that his health has grown worse in prison. This marks the first known time Khan was taken to a hospital and sent back to jail since August, when an earlier hospital visit was cut short.

Legal And Political Status

The cricketer-turned-politician lost power in a no-confidence vote in 2022 and has spent more than three years in prison while facing multiple corruption charges. Most of his convictions have been suspended or overturned while appeals stay pending, and he denies any wrongdoing by claiming the charges are politically motivated. The government denies these claims. Meanwhile, a Pakistani court ordered jail authorities to let Khan meet his legal team and his wife. In a separate event, his party's deputy chairman, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, was taken from a Lahore jail to a hospital in the same city on Tuesday, where he remains.

Context

Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi is where high-profile political prisoners and convicts are frequently held in Pakistan. High-security prisons in the country routinely manage medical transfers to major government facilities like the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences when inmates require specialized health checks.