ISLAMABAD — The health of Pakistan’s imprisoned former prime minister Imran Khan has again become a matter of national and international concern after a medical report submitted to the Supreme Court revealed fluctuating blood pressure, palpitations, headaches and significant anxiety.
A 28-page report from Adiala Jail said Khan was examined by senior government doctors on August 1 and August 10. His blood pressure was recorded at 140/100 and later 140/80, while his pulse remained relatively low. Doctors also noted anxiety and recommended more regular contact with his family, access to newspapers, books and television, and daily walking and relaxation, according to The Express Tribune.
The medical findings have added to long running concerns over Khan’s treatment in detention. His Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party says he has been effectively isolated for more than four months and has been denied regular access to his lawyers, family members and his personal medical team. His supporters argue that such restrictions are particularly serious for a prisoner with continuing health concerns.
The authorities, however, reject the description of his detention as solitary confinement. Jail officials have told the Islamabad High Court that Khan is not being held in solitary confinement and that he is being treated according to prison rules. Officials also say he receives regular medical attention and that his wife has been permitted to meet him.
The dispute has nevertheless attracted strong international attention. Amnesty International said in August that Pakistani authorities had subjected Khan to prolonged solitary confinement, restricted his access to medical care and visitation, and denied him regular access to legal counsel. The organisation called for his fundamental rights to be restored and said his right to a fair trial had been systematically undermined.
United Nations experts have also raised serious concerns. In December 2025, the UN Special Rapporteur on torture warned about Khan’s alleged prolonged solitary confinement and detention conditions. A UN-linked submission has described allegations that Khan spent about 23 hours a day in isolation and said such conditions could amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.
Human Rights Watch has separately documented a wider deterioration in Pakistan’s civic space, including restrictions on political opposition, media freedom and civil society. Its 2026 report said authorities had used broad laws to suppress dissent and that journalists and opposition figures faced harassment, arrests and intimidation.
Khan’s imprisonment has therefore become larger than the case of one politician. It has become a test of Pakistan’s commitment to freedom of expression, peaceful political activity, access to lawyers and the independence of the justice system.
Critics accuse the authorities of using legal proceedings to keep Khan away from political life and question whether the judiciary has been able to act independently and without political pressure. Those are serious allegations, but they remain contested by the government, which maintains that Khan’s convictions and detention are matters of law and that he is receiving proper treatment.
The Supreme Court is now being asked to consider his medical condition and access to treatment. For Khan’s supporters, the issue is no longer simply whether he remains in prison. They say it is whether a political prisoner can receive adequate medical care, communicate with his lawyers and family, and have his cases decided through a transparent and genuinely independent judicial process.
As Khan’s health becomes the latest focus of the political crisis, international rights organisations continue to watch Pakistan closely. The central question is increasingly simple: can the country protect the rights of a prisoner while also ensuring accountability through a justice system trusted by both the government and its opponents?
