Imran Khan’s Sons Urge Global Pressure Over ‘Inhumane’ Detention

LONDON: In a rare and emotional public appearance, Suleman Khan and Qasim Khan, the sons of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, have spoken out for the first time about their father’s incarceration, describing his condition as “inhumane” and calling for international pressure to secure his release.

Imran Khan, who has been imprisoned since August 2023 in the £190 million corruption case and is facing multiple trials, including those under the Anti-Terrorism Act, remains behind bars in Adiala Jail, where his sons say he is being held in solitary confinement, sometimes in total darkness, without access to lawyers or consistent contact with his family.

Speaking in an interview with X influencer Mario Nawfal, the brothers revealed they had exhausted all legal options and decided to go public because they believe “it’s only getting worse.” Qasim said, “We never thought he would be in there a fraction of how long he’s been in there… Now the only route left is to speak publicly.”

The brothers alleged that Khan’s basic rights are being denied and that court-ordered weekly calls are often ignored, sometimes leaving them unable to speak to their father for months. Suleman emphasized the international silence, saying, “It’s gone very quiet in the global media… we’ve exhausted other options.”

They acknowledged calls for Khan’s release from former U.S. official Richard Grenell and appealed to democratic governments and even Donald Trump to pay attention to what they called a “crackdown on free speech and democracy in Pakistan.” “We’d love to speak to Trump or figure out a way he could help,” Qasim added.

In a moving reflection on their father’s mental resilience, the brothers described how Khan, confined to a 7×8 foot ‘death cell’, spends his time in solitary confinement reading religious and historical literature and exercising, remaining unshaken in spirit despite harsh conditions. “He is probably the most resilient person I know,” said Qasim. “But that doesn’t mean what he’s enduring is acceptable.”

He added: “What we want is international pressure on Pakistan right now, because currently he’s living in inhumane conditions. They’re not giving him basic human rights … They’re not really doing anywhere near enough. And what we want is global pressure.”

On the topic of a lack of success so far through legal channels, Suleman said: “We’ve exhausted other options [and] legal avenues and it’s gone very quiet. It seems, in the international media, it seems to have gone very quiet.”

Questioned about the calls by US official Richard Grenell for their father’s release, Suleman said the two had not had any contact with him so far but were grateful for “all the support he’s shown”.

Regarding a message they had for the Trump administration on the topic, Suleman said: “We’d call for any government that supports free speech and proper democracy to join the call for our father’s release.”

Qasim similarly said he wanted the international community to “look at what’s going and hopefully take action and who better than Trump to gain the attention of.

“We’d love to speak to Trump or try and figure out a way where he would be able to help out in some way. Because, at the end of the day, all we’re trying to do is free our father, bring democracy in Pakistan and just ensure his basic human rights.”

Talking about the toll the situation had had on them, Qasim said “it’s been pretty brutal”.

The brothers claimed their phone calls were set up with their father at odd times with limited duration, adding that the failure to miss the calls “meant going a long time before they could talk to him again.”

They further claimed they spoke to Imran only once every two or three months.

The brothers said they did not want to participate in politics, adding that they had taken permission from Imran before speaking out in the interview.

Read more: Imran Khan Directs Junaid Akbar to Resign as PAC Chairman

The two have stayed away from the limelight, with their mother, British journalist and screenwriter Jemima Goldsmith, stressing that her sons had nothing to do with Pakistani politics.

In 2022, after anti-PTI protests were held outside her UK residence, she wrote on the former Twitter platform, “I have got nothing to do with Pakistani politics and neither have my children. They are low-key private individuals who are not even on social media.”

The following year, Jemima expressed her disappointment with X owner Elon Musk for taking away the previous blue-tick verification from accounts after trolls made fake accounts of her sons.

“Fake accounts pretending to be my children, created by imposters with a political agenda in Pakistan. This is exactly what I feared would happen when you took away Twitter’s verification blue ticks. FYI my children are not on social media & have no plans to be,” she said.