Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has been transferred from Adiala jail to Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad for medical evaluation. The move came after Pakistan's Supreme Court ordered that Khan be examined by physicians within 48 hours.
According to a report by the BBC, the transfer was carried out under heavy security at the direction of a three-judge panel of the Supreme Court. The BBC noted the area around the hospital was sealed off with barriers, police officers, and police vans. Cars were moved with a truck to clear the street while police cars and armored vehicles patrolled the surrounding area.
The court order also specified that Khan be allowed to see his family, which he had not been able to do in months. His sister visited him in prison on Tuesday night. The BBC described the hospital transfer as the most significant relief Khan has received from the courts since he was imprisoned in 2023 on corruption charges, which he has maintained were politically motivated.
Khan's lawyers have argued he is suffering from a range of health conditions, including deteriorating eyesight. In February, his lawyer said Khan had only 15 percent vision remaining in his right eye after prison authorities failed to take action, an allegation the government disputed. The Supreme Court's Tuesday order said an eye specialist would be involved in his hospital treatment. The panel wrote in that order: "We are mindful of the constitutional and legal obligation... to safeguard the life, health, dignity and security of the prisoner."
The 73-year-old captained Pakistan's national cricket team before entering politics. He served as the country's prime minister from 2018 to 2022 and was imprisoned in August 2023. He has faced charges in more than 100 cases, ranging from leaking state secrets to selling state gifts. Late last year, Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi were both sentenced to 17 years.
His party, Tehreek-e-Insaf, or PTI, was warned by both judges and party members not to gather outside the hospital, as doing so would violate the terms of the court order. The Supreme Court told Khan's party not to conduct press conferences outside the hospital. PTI has not publicly commented on whether the court's decision signals any political shift behind the scenes.
