Imran Khan: Rights and welfare during his imprisonment

Approximate read time: 10 minutes

The House of Lords is scheduled to consider the following question for short debate on 26 March 2026:

Baroness Alexander of Cleveden (Labour) to ask His Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the government of Pakistan regarding the protection of the rights and the welfare of former Prime Minister Imran Khan during his imprisonment, including access to medical care and family visits.

1. Background: Imran Khan’s political career and imprisonment

The former captain of the Pakistan cricket team, Imran Khan, retired from cricket in 1992.^[1] Mr Khan entered Pakistani politics following his retirement, founding the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (Pakistan Movement for Justice, PTI) party in 1996.^[2] In July 2018, PTI gained the largest number of seats in elections to Pakistan’s National Assembly, defeating the governing Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party.^[3]

The following month, Mr Khan was elected as prime minister of Pakistan after a vote in the National Assembly, forming a coalition government of PTI and smaller parties. Mr Khan remained in office until April 2022 when he lost a vote of no confidence in his leadership.^[4] He was replaced by the current prime minister and leader of the PML-N party, Shehbaz Sharif.^[5] Mr Sharif was in office from April 2022 to August 2023 and returned as prime minister in March 2024.^[6]

Mr Khan has faced charges in over 100 cases since leaving office, including bribery, corruption and the leaking of state secrets.^[7] In October 2022, the Electoral Commission of Pakistan disqualified him from standing for election for five years, ruling he had broken the law by selling gifts that he had received while prime minister.^[8] Mr Khan refuted these allegations, arguing the decision was politically motivated.^[9] He was arrested in May 2023 and was charged with criminal charges of corruption.^[10] He was subsequently granted bail following a supreme court ruling that the arrest had been unlawful, although the charges against Mr Khan were not dropped.^[11] In August 2023, he was arrested a second time and was sentenced to three years in jail for not declaring money earned from selling gifts he received in office.^[12] In January 2024, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison on charges of leaking state secrets and 14 years on further corruption charges.^[13] In January 2025, he was sentenced to 14 years in prison over further charges of corruption.^[14] Again, Mr Khan has protested his innocence and argued these charges had been brought in order to prevent him standing again for office.^[15]

Mr Khan’s wife, Bushra Bibi, has also been charged with corruption and imprisoned, charges which Mr Khan has again argued were politically motivated.^[16] Several members of PTI were also arrested in the aftermath of protests following Mr Khan’s initial arrest in May 2023, leading to the imprisonment of politicians including former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and the secretary general of PTI, Asad Umar.^[17]

The UK government has made the following statements following Imran Khan’s arrest. In May 2023, then UK prime minister Rishi Sunak said his arrest was an internal matter for Pakistan but that the UK was “monitoring the situation carefully”.^[18] In February 2024, then foreign secretary Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton issued a statement on the elections in Pakistan.^[19] This statement did not mention Mr Khan or any other specific politicians by name but it did refer to the UK government’s “serious concerns” about the fairness of these elections, noting issues including that “not all parties were formally permitted to contest the elections and that legal processes were used to prevent some political leaders from participation”.^[20] The government of Pakistan issued a statement responding to criticism of the elections, arguing they were held “peacefully and successfully”.^[21]

Further information on the events following Mr Khan’s departure from office and the 2024 general election is provided in the House of Commons Library briefing ‘Pakistan: 2024 general election’ (28 May 2024).

2. Treatment of Imran Khan in prison

Mr Khan’s lawyers and the leaders of the PTI party have said that Imran Khan has largely been held in solitary confinement during his incarceration.^[22] During this time, he has been reportedly denied visits, including from his family. In December 2025, the UN special rapporteur on torture, Alice Jill Edwards, issued a statement urging the government of Pakistan to address reports of Mr Khan’s “inhumane and undignified detention conditions” and warned of the risk to his health arising from long periods of solitary confinement.^[23] The Pakistani government has denied claims that Imran Khan has been held in isolation and has said Mr Khan has had access to various privileges including gym equipment and a cook.^[24]

In January 2026, PTI officials said Mr Khan was being denied medical treatment for a blockage in the retinal vein in his right eye, the symptoms of which began in October 2025.^[25] In February 2026, Mr Khan’s lawyers stated in a submission to Pakistan’s Supreme Court that he had lost 85% of the vision in his right eye. The Pakistani government said that Mr Khan had received ongoing treatment, including surgery in January 2026 to remove the blood clot in his eye.^[26] On 24 February 2026, he was moved from prison to a government hospital in Islamabad for eye treatment.

Both Mr Khan’s family and PTI have objected to what they have described as secrecy surrounding his treatment and that it was being undertaken without his personal doctors being consulted. Prior to his transfer to hospital in Islamabad, 14 former international cricket captains including England’s Mike Atherton, India’s Kapil Dev Nikhanj and Australia’s Allan Border wrote to the Pakistani government to express concern regarding Mr Khan’s treatment and to call for him to receive any necessary medical help.^[27]

3. Position of UK government

Members of both the House of Lords and the House of Commons have asked several questions concerning the UK government’s position on Mr Khan’s incarceration and his treatment in prison. For example, in November 2025 Lord Swire (Conservative) asked the UK government what representations it had made to the government of Pakistan about the jail conditions of Imran Khan and reports that he had been denied visits or phone calls.^[28] Responding, the government said that:

While judicial matters are for Pakistan’s courts, the UK has consistently emphasised to its counterparts in Pakistan the need for due process, fair trials, and humane treatment for all, including Mr Imran Khan.^[29]

The government subsequently stated that Mr Khan’s treatment was covered during discussions between Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper and Pakistan’s deputy prime minister, Mohammad Ishaq Dar, in August 2025.^[30] No further details were provided.

On 25 February 2026, Baroness Alexander asked an oral question concerning what discussions the UK government had had with the government of Pakistan regarding Mr Khan’s imprisonment and his access to medical care.^[31] She also asked whether the government would commit to meet with members of Mr Khan’s family. Responding, Baroness Chapman of Darlington, parliamentary under secretary of state at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, restated the government’s position that, while judicial processes were a matter for the Pakistani authorities, the Pakistani government needed to “respect fundamental freedoms, including the rights to a fair trial, due process, humane detention and access to appropriate medical treatment”.^[32]

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Image from Wikimedia Commons.