Pakistan's jailed former PM Khan's sons told DW the authorities are cracking down ahead of new PTI protests

Family members of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan are worried about his health while he is imprisoned in Rawalpindi. Khan's sons, Sulaiman and Kasim Khan, who live in London, say they have not been given much information about their father's health. When they last spoke to him in March, Khan told them he had lost 85% of his vision in his right eye, and his complaints about this were ignored for months.

The brothers also report that Khan is kept in a small cell and allowed outside for only a couple of hours each day. They allege that Khan has been isolated from his family, lawyers, and a personal doctor for 10 months before being allowed to see two of his sisters briefly. Khan and his sons are demanding that authorities allow their father to receive an independent medical examination and restore regular visits from his family and doctors.

They urge the Pakistani authorities to follow Supreme Court orders to transfer Khan to Shifa International Hospital for assessment by independent doctors and to grant him his right to family visits, phone calls with his sons, and access to a personal physician. Despite being in jail, Khan remains a key figure in Pakistan's political struggle between the PTI party and the military.

Khan's three sisters were detained in Lahore on Monday, accused of posing a threat to public safety and order. The government claims its actions are aimed at maintaining public order during the planned PTI protest on September 27.