Ex-Pakistan PM Imran Khan seeks release on humanitarian grounds, cites solitary confinement

Islamabad: Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan on Thursday urged the Islamabad High Court to consider his release on humanitarian and compassionate grounds, citing prolonged solitary confinement and an eye infection.

The plea was made through his counsel, Salman Safdar, as the court heard appeals filed by Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, against their conviction in the 190-million-pound corruption case.

An Islamabad accountability court in January last year sentenced 73-year-old Khan to 14 years and Bibi to seven years in prison in the corruption case led by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

During the hearing, Safdar requested the court to suspend the sentence, arguing that the case had remained pending for over 16 months and had already faced 17 hearings in the appeal, The Dawn newspaper reported.

Safdar informed the court of concerns over Khan’s eyesight, claiming that his vision has deteriorated significantly.

"Imran Khan’s eyesight has been reduced to 15%, with 85% of his vision lost," he was quoted as saying by The Express Tribune newspaper.

The defence counsel claimed that the damage to Khan's eye appeared to be permanent.

Safdar also questioned the conditions in which his clients were being held.

"One issue is the eye problem, and the second is why they are being kept in solitary confinement," he said, adding that Khan had told him that he could not see properly from one eye and that doctors had indicated the condition was irreversible.

The counsel told the court that Khan had been shifted to the hospital multiple times and that such treatment facilities were not available at Adiala Jail.

"It has now escalated to the point where we are calling for the IG Prisons, superintendent, and deputy superintendent to be summoned," Safdar said.

He also requested the court to order the hospital to provide complete medical records.

Safdar said Bushra Bibi was also affected in the case, noting that she was "arrested at the time of the judgment".

The IHC Chief Justice, Sarfraz Dogar, asked Safdar why he was not focusing on the main appeal, observing that it could be disposed of expeditiously.

Dogar said that appeals were being heard regularly and could be decided quickly if arguments were scheduled. However, Safdar insisted that the suspension applications should be decided first.

The counsel reiterated his request for summoning the Punjab Prisons IG and hospital authorities, along with the complete medical record.

The hearing was later adjourned.

The graft case pertains to allegations linked to the Al-Qadir Trust, a welfare organisation that runs a university outside Islamabad. It is alleged that the trust was used as a front to receive land worth millions of dollars from a real estate tycoon.

According to NAB, the donations were made in exchange for the former premier’s administration using repatriated funds from the United Kingdom to pay fines on behalf of the businessman instead of depositing the amount into the national exchequer.

Khan denied the allegations and said that neither he nor his wife derived any financial benefit from the trust or related transactions.