Imran Khan’s sons seek Pakistan visas, allege ex-PM held in ‘death cell’

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s sons say they have applied for visas and are planning to travel to Pakistan in January, as they raised fresh concerns about what they described as their father’s worsening prison conditions.

Kasim Khan said he and his brother, Suleiman, who live in London, were awaiting their visas and hoped to visit Khan at Adiala jail in Rawalpindi, where the jailed opposition leader has been held for more than a year.

“He’s being held in a death cell,” Kasim said during an interview with journalist Yalda Hakim for Sky News.

The interview came as another sit-in outside Adiala jail by Khan’s sisters was dispersed using water cannons. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party alleged authorities used “chemical-laced” water. The protest was held after Khan’s family was again denied a court-ordered prison visit.

Khan’s family and party say access to him has remained restricted despite repeated court directives allowing meetings with lawyers and relatives.

During the interview, Hakim asked Kasim and Suleiman whether they had tried to engage with the Pakistani government to secure permission to visit their father.

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Hakim noted the brothers had previously said they were warned not to travel to Pakistan, even though Defense Minister Khawaja Asif had publicly said they were welcome to visit Khan.

“We are now planning to because they said it openly,” Kasim said. “So — unless they go against their word — we should be hopefully going in January. We have applied for our visas.”

Asked whether they would urge Khan to consider “cutting a deal” with Pakistan’s rulers for his release, Kasim rejected the idea.

“What you have to understand is it’s his life,” he said. “He calls it his life purpose to help rid Pakistan of corruption.”

Kasim said his father would be deeply unhappy if he accepted a deal and left Pakistan to live in England.

“He would be depressed, to be honest,” he said. “This is his goal, and as much as we’d love to have our father with us, you can only respect it.”

Kasim said the family feels helpless and wants to know how they can assist in securing Khan’s release. “We feel so helpless at this point,” he said. “There’s so much to catch up on.”

When asked whether they believed Khan would ever be released, Kasim said they were increasingly pessimistic. “The conditions are getting worse. The people in power are becoming more entrenched,” he said. “We’re now worried we might never see him again.”

‘International pressure most effective way to force change’

Suleiman said Khan was not someone who would compromise for personal freedom and argued international pressure was the most effective way to force change.

Hakim asked about the conditions in which Khan is being held. Kasim described them as “awful.”

Suleiman said the cell has been described to them as a “death cell,” with poor lighting, electricity cuts and dirty water. “These are completely substandard conditions that don’t meet international laws for any sort of prisoner,” he said.

The brothers also spoke about rumors of Khan’s possible death that circulated on social media, describing the experience as deeply distressing.

“It’s incredibly stressful,” Suleiman said, adding that family contacts in Pakistan were their only reliable source of information.

Hakim also raised the issue of Khan’s sister Uzma Khanum, who was allowed to meet him in early December after weeks of restricted access.

Shortly after that meeting, a post attributed to Khan appeared on his X account criticizing Pakistan’s military leadership, prompting a sharply worded press conference by military spokesperson Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry.

Suleiman said Uzma told them Khan was physically well but furious about his treatment in jail.

Kasim stressed the need to implement court orders on visitation and allow Khan to see his personal physician.

Last week, the United Nations special rapporteur on torture warned that Khan’s detention conditions could amount to torture or other inhuman or degrading treatment.

Alice Jill Edwards said the 73-year-old has been held in solitary confinement for excessive periods since his transfer to Adiala jail on September 26, 2023, with restricted access to the outside world and constant camera surveillance.

Edwards urged Pakistan to immediately bring Khan’s detention conditions in line with international standards, noting that prolonged solitary confinement constitutes psychological torture under international law.

Khan, a former cricket star who captained Pakistan to victory in the 1992 World Cup, became prime minister in 2018 before being ousted in a no-confidence vote in 2022.

He denies corruption charges that led to his imprisonment and has accused the military of orchestrating his removal and targeting his PTI party.