Pakistani Government Denies Visas to Imran Khan’s Sons as Khan’s Health Deteriorates in Prison

Pakistan’s government is refusing to grant visas to the sons of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan, even as alarm grows over his deteriorating health and prolonged isolation in detention.

Khan has been held largely in solitary confinement, with his legal team and senior figures from his party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), saying they have been denied access to him for months. PTI officials say concerns intensified after reports emerged that Khan had been diagnosed with a serious eye condition that could lead to permanent blindness if untreated.

According to a statement from PTI, Khan is suffering from a dangerous blockage in the retinal vein of his right eye. Medical experts warn the condition, known as Central Retinal Vein Occlusion (CRVO), requires ongoing specialist treatment and regular hospital follow-ups.

Khan’s sons, Sulaiman and Kasim Khan, who live in London with their mother, Jemima Goldsmith, first applied for Pakistani visas in July 2025, according to Khan’s sister, Aleema Khan. After receiving no response, they reapplied on January 15. Their applications remain pending at Pakistan’s Interior Ministry, which must approve entry for foreign nationals.

A senior source within the Interior Ministry told Drop Site News that the delay is deliberate. “They will not be given visas,” the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “The decision has already been made. The government is simply delaying it without formally announcing a rejection.”

The source added that authorities plan to deny the visas on technical grounds—such as alleged omissions in travel disclosures—rather than issuing a direct refusal. The strategy, the source said, is to delay the process long enough to limit the brothers’ ability to correct and resubmit their applications before February 8, the second anniversary of Pakistan’s widely criticized 2024 election that kept PTI from power.

The visa standoff contrasts sharply with earlier assurances from senior officials. Defense Minister Khawaja Asif previously told journalist Mehdi Hasan that he could “guarantee” Khan’s sons would be allowed to visit their father. Mosharraf Zaidi, an adviser to the prime minister, also publicly offered to intervene, though he described such involvement as “below my pay grade.”

Khan, 73, has been held incommunicado at Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi for nearly two months. He has not seen family members since early December and has reportedly been denied access to his lawyers for around 100 days.

On January 24, authorities transferred Khan overnight to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in Islamabad for what officials described as a brief medical procedure. He was returned to prison before dawn, without prior notification to his family or legal counsel.

PTI officials say doctors diagnosed Khan with CRVO, a condition affecting retinal blood vessels that carries a high risk of irreversible vision loss. Dr. Aasim Yusuf, chief medical officer at Shaukat Khanum Hospitals and Khan’s personal physician for over two decades, confirmed the diagnosis. He said treatment typically involves repeated injections into the eye, sometimes combined with laser therapy, and requires close monitoring over months or years.

Dr. Yusuf said he and retinal specialist Dr. Khurram Azam were turned away from Adiala Jail late Thursday night despite indications they might be allowed to examine Khan. He emphasized that the condition cannot be properly managed in a prison setting and requires repeated hospital visits.

Khan has been imprisoned since August 2023 following multiple convictions related to corruption, treason, and illegal marriage—some of which have since been overturned. He denies all charges, calling them politically motivated reprisals by the military establishment for his criticism of senior generals. His wife, Bushra Bibi, is also imprisoned in the same complex on separate charges, and both have been barred from family visits since December.

Khan’s sons last saw their father in 2022 and last spoke to him during a six-minute phone call in September 2025. In December, Kasim Khan told Reuters that the family’s “greatest fear is that something irreversible is being hidden from us.”

International concern has mounted. The UN Human Rights Council’s Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has ruled Khan’s imprisonment arbitrary, while a UN special rapporteur warned last month that his conditions of detention may amount to inhuman or degrading treatment.

Despite growing scrutiny, Pakistan’s military-backed government and Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir have continued to strengthen ties with Washington. Earlier this month, Pakistan announced it would join the so-called “Board of Peace,” a new initiative backed by U.S. President Donald Trump aimed at imposing a political settlement on Gaza without Palestinian participation, potentially involving foreign military deployments.