ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s government said on Saturday it has decided to transfer jailed former prime minister Imran Khan to a hospital and form a medical board for his eye treatment, as opposition protests over the issue entered a second day and his lawyers moved a high court to seek his release on health grounds.
The developments follow a report submitted to the Supreme Court by a lawyer appointed as amicus curiae who was asked to visit Khan at Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail earlier this month. The report said the 73-year-old had suffered severe vision loss in his right eye due to central retinal vein occlusion, leaving him with only 15 percent sight in the affected eye.
The findings triggered a sit-in by an opposition alliance, including members of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, demanding his immediate transfer to Islamabad’s Al-Shifa Hospital. Khan was also allowed to speak to his sons for about 20 minutes, according to his family, despite the former premier’s limited interactions with his family and legal team in recent months due to restrictions that the PTI has challenged in court.
In a social media post, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry announced the government’s decision.
