Pakistan’s Supreme Court today ordered authorities to transfer jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan to Islamabad’s Shifa International Hospital for a comprehensive medical examination within the next few days. Local media reported that a three-member Supreme Court bench passed the order while hearing several petitions seeking Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan’s hospitalisation and meeting with his family. The court said the order was being issued in view of Imran Khan’s health and the constitutional guarantee of the right to life and access to medical facilities. It also directed authorities to ensure weekly meetings between Imran Khan and his family members and ordered the establishment of a medical board, with his personal physician and his sister Uzma Khan, to be associated with it. The ruling came a day after the Superintendent of Adiala jail, where Imran Khan has been incarcerated since August 2023, submitted a report to the Supreme Court on the former PM’s health.
Last month, UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, Alice Jill Edwards, expressed concerns over reports of Imran Khan’s detention conditions and his not getting access to proper medical care.
