Islamabad, Pakistan – A court-appointed lawyer has claimed that jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan has been left with just 15 percent vision in his right eye after authorities allegedly ignored his complaints for three months, adding another layer of contention over his imprisonment.
Barrister Salman Safdar, appointed by the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) as amicus curiae (friend of the court), conducted a two-hour interview with Khan on February 10 and inspected his detention facility before submitting a detailed seven-page report to the court on Wednesday.
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The report paints a troubling picture of the 73-year-old’s deteriorating health and prolonged isolation, since he was imprisoned in August 2023 on dozens of charges.
It says Khan suffered rapid and substantial vision loss over the past three months while in custody under former jail superintendent Abdul Ghafoor Anjum, who was transferred in mid-January.
Despite repeated complaints of persistent blurred and hazy vision, the report states that “no action was taken by the jail authorities to address these complaints”.
“He stated that he subsequently suffered a sudden and complete loss of vision in his right eye,” Safdar wrote.
A medical report dated February 6, 2026, diagnosed the condition as “right central retinal vein occlusion.” Safdar noted.
An ophthalmologist from a leading government hospital in Islamabad was eventually consulted and confirmed the diagnosis, a blood clot that can cause severe retinal damage.
Safdar observed that the former premier was “visibly perturbed and deeply distressed,” with watery eyes requiring tissues throughout their meeting.
The report warns that “any further delay poses a serious risk to the petitioner’s well-being” and recommends an immediate independent examination by expert ophthalmologists, including Khan’s personal physicians.
Following the submission of the report, the SCP moved swiftly. It ordered the formation of a medical team to examine Khan’s eye and directed that he be allowed phone contact with his sons, who both live in the United Kingdom, and ordered both tasks to be completed before February 16.
“The issue of Imran’s health is most important,” Chief Justice Yahya Afridi observed, adding that “intervention was necessary.”
Health concerns mount
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the party founded by Khan, expressed “profound concern” in a statement on Thursday and strongly condemned the treatment meted out to him, “particularly with regard to the serious deterioration of his eyesight”.
The party said it reserves the right to initiate legal proceedings against relevant officials over his declining health, warning that “any harm inflicted upon Imran Khan’s health will be accounted for”.
“We demand that Imran Khan be granted immediate and unrestricted access to his personal physicians and that, for specialized eye treatment, he be transferred without delay to a reputable hospital recommended by his medical team. Unhindered access to his legal counsel and the full restoration of family visitation rights are his fundamental rights,” the statement read.
Khan, a popular former Pakistan cricket captain and World Cup winner, became prime minister in 2018 in elections that opponents alleged were rigged in his favour by the powerful military. Four years later, he was removed through a no-confidence vote that he claimed was orchestrated by the military, after their relationship soured, in collusion with Washington and Khan’s political rivals in Pakistan.
These allegations were denied by both the Pakistani military and the United States.
Since his ouster, he has blamed army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir for his troubles and repeatedly urged supporters to stage public protests.
Following his removal from power, Khan faced a cascade of charges that his party says were designed to sideline Pakistan’s most popular opposition leader. After being detained for less than two days in May 2023, he was arrested again in August 2023 on corruption charges.
He has been in Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi since August 2023. He has remained there since, in what Safdar’s report confirms as solitary confinement for approximately two years and four months.
In June 2024, a United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention concluded that Khan’s detention “had no legal basis and appears to have been intended to disqualify him from running [for] political office.”
Political fallout deepens
The Supreme Court’s decision to appoint an independent observer followed months of restricted access to Khan. Chief Justice Afridi had stressed that Safdar should be given “respectful and unhindered access” and not be kept waiting outside the jail.
The report states that Khan has been denied access to his lead counsel and legal team for the past five months. He also told Safdar that his sisters and other immediate family members had not been permitted to visit him. Only after the change in jail superintendent was he allowed to meet his wife – who is also behind bars on corruption charges – once a week for about 30 minutes every Tuesday.
Benazir Shah, a senior political analyst, said the public deserves transparency and his family deserves answers.
“The government has mishandled Imran Khan’s health from the very start, first by concealing the news until it was reported by a local English newspaper, then by dismissing it as a routine matter, and ultimately by performing a procedure without the knowledge or presence of his family,” she said.
“The treatment meted out to a former prime minister for so long shows that the current government in Pakistan has scant regard for basic human rights,” Lahore-based Shah told Al Jazeera.
