Islamabad: Pakistan’s jailed former prime minister Imran Khan was Sunday examined by a team of doctors after a reported eyesight issue, while his party rejected the inspection.
A Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawyer visited Khan Thursday on the directive of the Supreme Court to get a first-hand report on his living conditions. The report showed that Khan complained of losing about 85 per cent vision in his right eye.
The court ordered authorities to carry out a detailed medical checkup of the 73-year-old former cricketer-turned-politician before February 16.
Sources said that a team of doctors visited Khan and examined the affected eye in detail.
“The medical examination went on for an hour, and the team left after collecting blood samples,” sources said.
Last month, Khan was taken to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in Islamabad, and a procedure was performed on his eye.
However, he complained of losing vision during the meeting with the lawyer, which led to demands by his family and the PTI to allow his treatment at a private hospital.
It was indicated by government figures Saturday that Khan would soon be taken to a hospital, but instead, doctors were taken to jail to carry out the examination.
His party refused to accept the latest inspection, saying that without the presence of the PTI, his family and Khan’s personal doctors, the government’s stance was “deemed malicious”.
“Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf categorically rejects the recent conduct of the government and jail administration regarding the medical examination of former prime minister Imran Khan’s eye in Adiala Jail.
“The government’s claim that a message was sent to the party leadership to arrive at the jail at the time of the examination is, in fact, a crude attempt to divert attention from the core issue,” the PTI said in a post on X.
“This matter was never about the presence or absence of the party leadership. In such sensitive and delicate medical matters, the constitutional, moral, and legal right to make decisions belongs to Imran Khan’s family.
“And the family cannot make an informed decision until Imran Khan’s personal doctors are present during the examination. Therefore, inviting the party leadership symbolically has neither any moral rationale nor any legal justification,” it said.
Khan has been in jail since August 5, 2023, when he was arrested at his Lahore residence after his conviction in a corruption case. Currently, he is incarcerated at the high-security Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi.