Baroness Alexander, a member of the Labor Party, says the discussion is timely given Imran’s ‘deterioration in well-being’.
A debate is underway in the UK House of Lords over the detention and health of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan.
Imran has been jailed since August 2023 and is currently serving time in Adiala Jail for a £190 million corruption case. He also faces pending lawsuits under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) related to the May 9, 2023 protests.
Opening the debate, Baroness Alexander of Cleveden, a member of the Labor Party, said the discussion was timely given Imran’s “deterioration in wellbeing”, citing concerns about his health, conditions of detention, access to healthcare, denial of family visits and recurring questions about access to justice.
The debate comes a day after Kasim Khan, son of the PTI founder, addressed the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), urging the body to intervene and pressure the Pakistani government for his father’s immediate release.
Read: Kasim urges UNHRC intervention to immediately end Imran’s persecution and detention
The former prime minister’s children have not seen him since November 2022, after an assassination attempt. They said they applied for visas in January this year, but have yet to receive a response.
However, the PTI founder was allowed to call his children from Adiala jail on Eid day and talk to them for about 25 to 30 minutes. During the call, his children inquired about his health, while Imran expressed his happiness at being able to talk to them on the festive occasion. He was taken out of the complex to a special room for the call and then returned to the complex.
Last week, Jemima Goldsmith, Imran’s ex-wife, made a direct appeal to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to allow her children to visit their father in prison.
In response, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said that Imran’s children do not need visas to visit Pakistan and join their father, to which Jemima responded that the government was denying visas to her children, in an attempt to deprive them of British protection in the event of possible arrest upon arrival in Pakistan.
