Pakistan’s imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan has lost 85% of the vision in his right eye, his lawyer told the Supreme Court, compounding the legal and political turmoil that has defined his time behind bars.
Khan, 73, has been jailed since August 2023 and is serving a 14-year sentence on corruption charges. He faces dozens of other cases that he says were fabricated to sideline him from politics, an allegation the military strongly rejects.
“He has been left with only 15% vision in his right eye,” Khan’s lawyer, Salman Safdar, said in a report submitted Thursday and seen by Reuters, quoting the former cricket star turned politician.
The fact-finding report cited Khan as saying he had been complaining since October 2025 of “persistent blurred and hazy vision,” but that jail authorities took no action.
Safdar submitted the report after a two-hour meeting with Khan ordered by the Supreme Court, which set a Feb. 16 deadline for authorities to allow Khan access to his personal physician for an assessment of his condition.
Khan was taken to a hospital this month for a 20-minute eye procedure, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar has said.
“We demand immediate and transparent implementation of the court’s order, unrestricted access to qualified specialists of his choice, and an end to tactics that risk his life in custody,” Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party said in a statement.
The party, which faced a crackdown after Khan’s May 2023 arrest sparked nationwide protests against the military, emerged as the single largest party in the 2024 election.
But it said rigging cost it seats and helped other parties form a coalition government under Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, allegations Sharif and his allies deny.
