Pakistan Supreme Court orders jailed ex-PM Imran Khan to be moved to hospital

Pakistan’s Supreme Court ordered on Tuesday that jailed former prime minister Imran Khan be moved to hospital for medical checks, after a petition by his lawyers over claims of poor health.

Justice Shahid Waheed said 73-year-old Khan, who had been in jail since 2023 on corruption charges, would be shifted in the next two days to Shifa International Hospital in the capital Islamabad.

Khan and his wife, spiritual guide Bushra Bibi, were both sentenced late last year to 17 years behind bars.

There was no immediate information about the details of Khan’s health concerns included in his lawyers’ petition.

He received eye treatment at a hospital this year, with his family and lawyer saying at the time that he had lost most of the vision in his right eye.

Secretary general Salman Akram Raja of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) told media outside the court, in a video shared on Facebook, that Tuesday’s ruling was “a major step, a major decision, a great blessing”.