Imran Khan Taken From Prison for Eye Treatment, Then Returned

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan was taken from prison to a hospital for treatment and then returned to jail, The Times of India reported ^[1].

Khan, who is held at Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, had an eye check-up at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, an official said on Wednesday, The Jerusalem Post reported ^[6]. The Independent reported he underwent the check-up in Islamabad late Tuesday ^[4]. His lawyers say the 74-year-old's health has deteriorated in prison and that he has lost significant vision in his right eye, the Hindustan Times reported ^[3].

His party demands access

Khan's party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, known as PTI, is demanding access to the jailed leader after the overnight hospital visit, Al Jazeera reported ^[5]. His supporters have long complained that his family and lawyers are kept from seeing him and that information about his health is hard to come by. An overnight trip to a hospital, done quietly and then reported by unnamed officials, only feeds those fears.

From cricket hero to prisoner

Khan is one of the most famous Pakistanis alive. He captained the national cricket team to its 1992 World Cup victory, built a cancer hospital in his mother's name and went on to found his own political party. He served as prime minister from 2018 until 2022, when he was removed in a parliamentary no-confidence vote. He has been in prison since 2023 on a string of cases that his supporters say are politically motivated and that the government says are about corruption and the law.

He remains the country's most popular opposition figure, and his party's supporters turn out in large numbers whenever he is in the news. His imprisonment has become the defining issue of Pakistani politics, and rallies demanding his release have at times turned violent.

Why Americans should pay attention

Pakistan is a nuclear-armed country of more than 240 million people in one of the world's most dangerous neighborhoods, bordering Afghanistan, Iran, India and China. Its stability matters to American security. When the country's most popular politician is in prison and his health is failing, tensions can rise quickly, and unrest in Pakistan never stays in Pakistan.

A matter of basic decency

Whatever one thinks of Khan's politics or the charges against him, a prisoner is owed proper medical care and his family is owed honest information about his health. Losing sight in one eye is serious, and it can get worse quickly without proper treatment. If Pakistan's government wants to show that the cases against Khan are about the law and not about politics, treating him fairly is the place to start.

We will continue to follow his condition and his legal fight.

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