Pakistan’s jailed Imran Khan loses 85% vision in right eye, lawyer says
By Asif Shahzad
ISLAMABAD, February 13 (Reuters) – Pakistan’s jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan has lost 85 percent of his right eye, his lawyer told the Supreme Court.
Khan, 73, has been in jail since August 2023 and is serving a 14-year sentence on corruption charges; It’s one of dozens of cases he says were fabricated by the military to keep him out of politics, a charge the army denies.
“He has only 15% vision left in his right eye,” Khan’s lawyer Salman Safdar said in Thursday’s report, seen by Reuters, quoting the former cricket star-turned-politician. he said.
The fact-finding report stated that Khan complained that he had “constantly experienced blurry and hazy vision” since October 2025, but that the prison authorities did not take any action.
Safdar submitted his report after a two-hour meeting with Khan on the instructions of the Supreme Court, which set a February 16 deadline for authorities to be allowed access to his personal doctor for a report on Khan’s condition.
VISIBLY PEACEFUL AND DISTRESSED, KHAN HAS WATERY EYES
He observed that Khan appeared “visibly agitated and deeply distressed by his vision loss,” adding that “his eyes were watery and he repeatedly used tissues to wipe them.”
Khan was taken to hospital for 20-minute eye treatment, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said earlier this month.
He was diagnosed with right central retinal vein occlusion or occlusion, according to a medical report dated February 6 submitted to the court based on an examination by an ophthalmologist in his prison cell in the city of Rawalpindi.
Accordingly, it was stated that Khan was taken to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in Islamabad, where doctors performed the 20-minute procedure in an operating room with his consent.
Pakistan Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tariq Fazal said on Friday that reports that Khan had been complaining about his eyesight since October were erroneous and that all officials were informed about this only on January 16. He added that specialist ophthalmologists performed the procedure on January 24.
“This is not a political issue. It is a medical issue. We will provide all possible support for his health,” Fazal told reporters in Islamabad.
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Party said in a statement that the party demands unrestricted access to qualified experts of Khan’s choosing and an end to tactics that put his life in custody at risk.
The party, which faced pressure after Khan’s arrest in May 2023 sparked nationwide protests against the military, has emerged as the largest party in the 2024 elections.
But he said the ruse stole more seats to help other parties form a coalition government headed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif; The sheriff and his allies deny these accusations.
(Reporting by Asif Shahzad; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Raju Gopalakrishnan)
