Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan was taken to hospital in Islamabad late on Tuesday for medical treatment and returned to prison, sources said.
Khan, 74, who is imprisoned in Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, had an eye check-up at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, one of the officials said on Wednesday. He had some blood pressure issues and was given required treatment last night. He has been shifted back to his prison cell, the person said.
A PIMS official said Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi was brought from Adiala between November 10 and 11 for medical check-up and follow-up eye treatment on advice of his treating ophthalmologist. Prior to procedure he underwent medical examination including ocular assessment. His vital parameters were found to be normal. He was clinically stable.
After informed consent and standard monitoring, ophthalmology team administered an intravitreal anti-VEGF injection for his right eye, officials said. He remained stable before, during and after procedure and was discharged around 2:30 am with instructions for further care and follow-up.
It is first known instance of Khan being taken to hospital and returned since August, when his hospital visit was cut short. His lawyers say health has deteriorated in prison and he has lost significant vision in his right eye.
On Wednesday, PTI lawyers including Barrister Salman Safdar and Advocate Latif Khosa were allowed to meet Khan in Adiala Jail, a day after Islamabad High Court directed authorities to facilitate meeting for him and his wife Bushra Bibi. The cricketer-turned-politician has faced multiple corruption charges since losing power in no-confidence vote in 2022 and has been in prison for more than three years. All convictions bar one have been suspended or overturned, with appeals pending.
Analysis:
The midnight hospital dash is both medical and political. Government needed to show it is providing care after weeks of PTI claims about blindness risk, while also ensuring quick return to cell to avoid optics of relief. Anti-VEGF injection suggests retinal issue, often linked to diabetes or hypertension, conditions that worsen in incarceration. Allowing legal access a day after court order helps establishment counter accusations of incommunicado detention. But health narrative now becomes central to PTI's pressure campaign for release on medical grounds.
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