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Fri, Jan 16, 2026 | Rajab 27, 1447 | Fajr 05:45 | DXB 
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Former Pak PM Imran Khan's sons worry, describe 'awful' jail conditions
Kasim and Sulaiman Isa Khan say they intend to visit their father in January, but are afraid they 'might never see him again'
As former Pakistan Prime Minister's imprisonment nears two-and-a-half years, his supporters and family members have been repeatedly concerned for his well-being in prison.
In a Sky News interview, the former Pakistan PM's sons, Kasim Khan and Sulaiman Isa Khan have shown concern for their father's health in prison.
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Earlier, the United Nations' special rapporteur on torture warned that Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan is being held in conditions that could amount to torture and other inhuman or degrading treatment.
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Alice Jill Edwards urged Pakistan to take immediate and effective action to address reports of the 73-year-old's inhumane and undignified detention conditions.
The former PM's sons have, according to the Sky News interview, not spoken to their father in seven months. "We're worried we might never see him again," one of them said, in the 15-minute-long interview in England, when asked if they think Khan will ever be released from prison.
Plan to visit
They are now planning to visit their father in prison next month, they said. Both Kasim and Sulaiman have applied for their visas, but have not received them yet.
The Defence Minister of Pakistan had earlier guaranteed the safety of Imran Khan's sons, if and when they decided to visit Pakistan to see their father while in prison.
They have, in the meantime, called on international media and authorities to ensure that "the standards of international human rights are being upheld", which they believe are "clearly being violated".
"We want to ensure that our father’s basic human rights are respected, implement the court orders, respect the rule of law, allow him to see his personal physician, allow independent monitoring of his conditions."
'Awful' conditions, 'death cell'
"The conditions are awful," Kasim, Imran Khan's younger son said while describing the cell his father has been kept in.
Sulaiman, added that the cell has "been described as a death cell". According to him, "inmates who have been put on death row have been put in these small cells before, with barely any light."
Aside from the lack of light, he says that sometimes electricity to the cell id "cut off" and that there is "dirty water" that is provided to Khan in the cell. He said conditions are "just completely substandard" and "don’t meet international law for any sort of prisoner".
The UN's special rapporteur on torture, Alice Jill Edwards, said prolonged or indefinite solitary confinement is prohibited under international human rights law and constitutes a form of psychological torture when it lasts longer than 15 days.
"Khan's solitary confinement should be lifted without delay. Not only is it an unlawful measure, extended isolation can bring about very harmful consequences for his physical and mental health," she said.
Rumours of demise
Sulaiman and Kasim also addressed rumours that were circulating earlier this year of Imran Khan's demise, calling it "incredibly stressful".
They said that the only source of information they can trust is their family group chat, because that's "the only reliable source that we have on the ground in Pakistan".
They said, it was "obviously very jarring" to see those rumours online and that something like that "pulls you out of whatever you’re trying to do in your normal life".
They now intend to lobby for more media to spread the word about their father's conditions in prison, and intend to visit Brussels or Geneva to "speak to politicians and officials about this situation".
"Everyone says, 'Pakistani politicians go to prison.' This is completely different. They’re not all tortured in solitary confinement cells for upwards of two years," they said.
Imran Khan, initially a strong backer of the country's powerful military leadership, was ousted in a no-confidence vote in 2022, and has since been jailed on a slew of corruption charges that he denies.
He has accused the military of orchestrating his downfall and pursuing his Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party and its allies.
Khan's supporters say he is being denied prison visits from lawyers and family after a fiery social media post earlier this year accusing army leader Field Marshal Asim Munir of persecuting him.
Meher Dhanjal
Meher Dhanjal is a Digital Journalist who breaks news first and breathes second. She loves chasing page views and finding stories that tug at readers’ heartstrings.
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