Pakistan’s top court orders imprisoned former PM Imran Khan taken to hospital, allows family visits

Pakistan’s Supreme Court has ordered the transfer of former Prime Minister Imran Khan to Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad for a medical examination, according to his lawyers and party officials. The three-judge panel made the decision after months of concerns regarding Khan's health and access to medical care, raised by his family and personal physicians.

The court has also permitted Khan to have weekly meetings with family members and telephone calls with his sons, reported AP. This comes after the government barred visitors from the prison where Khan is being held due to intelligence reports of a potential attack. Khan's legal team argued that his health was at risk and that access to medical care is protected under Pakistan's constitution.

Khan first petitioned the court to be transferred from the high-security prison in Rawalpindi to a hospital and to have access to his personal physicians, family, and lawyers. Earlier this year, Khan was taken to a government hospital due to an eye condition. The court stressed that the order is to ensure Khan's well-being and safeguard his right to medical care.