Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) staged a protest outside the Supreme Court of Pakistan in Islamabad on Tuesday, 12 August, demanding early hearings of cases involving jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan and raising alarm over his deteriorating health. The demonstration was called off later the same day after the court registrar assured party leaders that the pending cases would be scheduled for hearing the following week.

Key Demands and Protest Details

The PTI had formally requested the Supreme Court for expedited hearings of its founder's cases and sought permission for Imran Khan to meet his family members and personal physicians, according to local media reports. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, who addressed protesters, said the people of Pakistan were deeply worried about the PTI founder's well-being.

'We neither politicise Imran Khan's health, nor has Imran Khan ever raised the issue of his health with the objective of seeking any form of relief,' Afridi said. He called for Khan's medical treatment to be conducted under the supervision of his personal physicians and in the presence of his family.

Afridi Invokes Nawaz Sharif Precedent

Speaking to reporters, Chief Minister Afridi recalled that Imran Khan, during his tenure as Prime Minister, had permitted former PM Nawaz Sharif to travel abroad for medical treatment despite questions raised over the legitimacy of his medical certificates. Afridi argued that denying Imran Khan similar access to healthcare and family contact amounted to a violation of fundamental human rights, calling the situation 'completely unacceptable.'

Background: Three Years in Detention

Imran Khan has remained in prison since August 2023 following convictions that the PTI has consistently described as politically motivated. Since his removal from office in 2022 through a no-confidence vote, he has faced multiple legal cases, including allegations involving state gifts and an unlawful marriage case.

On 5 August, the PTI held nationwide protests to mark three years of Khan's imprisonment. CM Afridi announced that if authorities do not lift restrictions on the party founder, the PTI will march on Islamabad on 27 September. 'If these demands are not met, we will march on Islamabad on September 27,' Afridi warned while addressing a gathering in Peshawar.

UN Rapporteur Raises Alarm Over Detention Conditions

International scrutiny of Khan's imprisonment has intensified. Last month, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Alice Jill Edwards expressed serious concerns over reports of Imran Khan's detention conditions and his alleged denial of adequate medical care. She urged Pakistan to restore humane conditions and allow the former Prime Minister access to medical examination and treatment of his own choice.

In a post shared on LinkedIn, Edwards stated that Khan has been held in near-total solitary confinement for 33 months in a small, windowless cell under 24-hour CCTV surveillance, often without exercise or meaningful human contact for more than two weeks continuously. She noted this 'far exceeds the Mandela Rules' — the UN's minimum standards for the treatment of prisoners.

'I am also concerned about reports that he is being denied proper medical care and is suffering from serious medical issues that have not been treated appropriately, compounding a spinal injury from a 2013 accident and bullet wounds sustained in a November 2022 assassination attempt,' Edwards wrote.

With a PTI march on Islamabad threatened for late September and international pressure mounting, the coming weeks are likely to test how Pakistan's government and judiciary respond to growing domestic and global scrutiny of Imran Khan's incarceration.