The son of Pakistan's jailed former prime minister Imran Khan has issued an urgent public warning that his father's life is in danger, saying that neither his family nor his lawyers have seen or heard from the 74-year-old since August. In a series of posts on X this week, Sulaiman Khan alleged that Imran Khan told his family in August that he was being tortured in prison and feared that the authorities were trying to kill him — claims Pakistan's government firmly denies.
Sulaiman, 29, who lives in London, joined X this week under his father's tribal surname, @SulaimanKNiazi, and used his first posts to raise the alarm about his father's health and access to him in Rawalpindi's Adiala Jail, where the former prime minister and former national cricket captain has been held for more than three years. His first post was viewed more than 750,000 times within a day, and was shared by his mother, Jemima Goldsmith. His younger brother, Kasim, has also campaigned publicly for their father's release.
Sulaiman Khan's warning, reported by The Independent citing Associated Press reporting and carried widely in Pakistani and international outlets on October 29-31, 2026, centres on a stark claim: that contact with his father stopped entirely in August. "No one has seen or heard from my father since August, when he explicitly said that he was being tortured and that the regime was trying to kill him like Egypt's government did Morsi," Sulaiman wrote, referring to former Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi, who died during a court hearing in 2019 after years of harsh imprisonment.
"It is clear that they are trying to kill him as he is by far the most popular political figure in the country, and they fear him," Sulaiman added. "If the worst happens, no one should make any mistake who is responsible." He blamed Pakistan's army chief, General Asim Munir, for his father's continued incarceration, and accused the authorities of ignoring an August Supreme Court order directing that Khan be assessed and treated at the private Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad and granted regular visits from his family and access to his lawyers.
Sulaiman also said his father's health was deteriorating because of what he called inhumane treatment in prison, and expressed concern that any deterioration resulting in his father's death could be attributed to natural causes or old age. He cited the United Nations special rapporteur on torture, saying the official had repeatedly stated that his father's treatment amounted to torture. He said his father had been in exceptionally good physical condition when he was imprisoned three years ago, despite having survived an assassination attempt in which he was shot in the leg, describing him as "about the fittest and healthiest 70 year old man you could possibly find" at the time.
Sulaiman further criticised foreign governments that maintain relations with Pakistan's current leadership, arguing that such engagement was incompatible with claims of supporting democracy and human rights. The warning comes as Pakistan's military plays a visible mediating role between Iran and the United States, a position that has put Islamabad's relations with Washington under fresh scrutiny in recent weeks.
Imran Khan served as Pakistan's prime minister from 2018 to 2022 and founded the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party. Before politics, he was Pakistan's national cricket captain, leading the country to World Cup victory in 1992. He was removed from office in 2022 through a parliamentary vote of no confidence, and has been in jail since August 2023 following convictions on corruption and bribery charges. He denies all the charges and says they are politically motivated. He faces charges in more than 100 cases, and his supporters have repeatedly raised concerns about his health and access to legal counsel.
The dispute over access to Khan has been running for months. His family and lawyers say they have been denied regular contact, while the government insists he is treated as an ordinary convicted prisoner. In a written response to the Associated Press in August, Pakistan's Ministry of Information said Khan was not being held under a government order but was serving sentences imposed by courts following judicial proceedings, and denied allegations of mistreatment and solitary confinement.
The wider crackdown on Khan's family and party has intensified this autumn. His three sisters — Aleema Khan, Uzma Khan and Noreen Niazi — were detained in September 2026 under the Punjab Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance ahead of planned protests, and their detention was extended for another 30 days this week, according to Punjab government officials. Noreen Niazi was taken to hospital from jail on Wednesday. Sulaiman and his brother Kasim have reportedly been advised against travelling to Pakistan to campaign for their father's release, following the arrests of other family members.
On October 11, President Asif Ali Zardari declared a state of emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and suspended the PTI-led provincial government there, citing Islamist militancy. The PTI called the move "more of a coup disguised as an emergency." A rally demanding Khan's release earlier this month drew thousands of supporters, a sign that — more than three years into his imprisonment — he remains, as his son put it, by far the country's most popular political figure.
The Imran Khan prison warning from his son and the government's response describe two irreconcilable realities, and that gap is itself the story. Sulaiman's account rests on three specific claims that can, in principle, be tested: that no family member or lawyer has had contact with Khan since August; that an August Supreme Court order on medical assessment, treatment and visits has not been complied with; and that his sisters' detention and his own inability to travel show a pattern of restricting the family's access. The government's account rests on a legal framing: Khan is a convicted prisoner, his detention follows judicial proceedings, and allegations of mistreatment and solitary confinement are denied.
Neither side has produced, in the public reporting so far, independent verification of Khan's current condition — no recent photograph, medical report or confirmed visit has been published. That absence is precisely why Sulaiman's intervention has gained traction: by joining X and posting under his father's tribal name, he has given the family's long-standing complaints a direct, personal voice, and the hundreds of thousands of views on his first post show how quickly that voice travels. It is also why the government will face pressure to demonstrate, rather than simply assert, that Khan has access to medical care and legal counsel.
The episode also underlines how Khan's case has become a test of Pakistan's institutions. A Supreme Court order, if it exists in the terms Sulaiman describes, is not a request but a direction from the country's highest court; non-compliance, if proven, would raise questions well beyond one prisoner's treatment. Conversely, if the authorities can show regular medical assessments and lawyer access, the family's most alarming claims would lose much of their force. For now, the public record contains allegations on one side and denials on the other — and that unresolved tension is what makes the warning newsworthy rather than merely emotional.
"No one has seen or heard from my father since August, when he explicitly said that he was being tortured and that the regime was trying to kill him like Egypt's government did Morsi," Sulaiman Khan wrote on X.
"It is clear that they are trying to kill him as he is by far the most popular political figure in the country, and they fear him. If the worst happens, no one should make any mistake who is responsible," Sulaiman said.
"His health is deteriorating because of the inhumane treatment he has been subjected to in prison," Sulaiman said, adding that his father had been in exceptionally good physical condition when imprisoned three years ago.
Pakistan's government has denied allegations of mistreatment and solitary confinement. The Ministry of Information told the Associated Press in a written response in August that Khan "isn't being held under a government order but as a convicted prisoner serving sentences imposed by courts following judicial proceedings."
Imran Khan's imprisonment has been the central fault line of Pakistani politics for more than three years, and any credible suggestion that his life is at risk raises the stakes for everyone involved — for the government, for the military, for the courts, and for Pakistan's international partners, including the United States. Pakistan is currently a key intermediary in efforts to avert a wider war between Iran and the United States, and its army chief has travelled to Tehran twice this month as part of that mediation. A domestic crisis over the treatment of the country's most popular opposition figure would complicate that diplomacy and sharpen questions in Washington and other capitals about the state of democracy and human rights in Pakistan.
For American readers, the story also matters because it tests a familiar principle: that even a convicted prisoner is entitled to medical care, legal access and family contact, and that court orders are meant to be obeyed. Sulaiman's warning frames the case in exactly those terms — not as a partisan plea, but as a demand that a Supreme Court order be carried out. Whether the authorities respond with evidence of compliance or with further silence will shape how the case is understood abroad, and whether international concern grows or fades.
Finally, the story matters because of what it reveals about how political families now communicate. Sulaiman, 29, had not previously been a public campaigner in this way; his decision to join X, adopt his father's tribal surname and speak directly to a global audience bypasses both Pakistan's domestic media environment and the formal channels of legal representation. That directness is part of why the warning spread so fast — and why it is unlikely to be the last word on the case.
What happens next will depend, above all, on whether family members and lawyers are given access to Khan, and whether the authorities publish any update on his health and visits. If a visit takes place and is confirmed, or if a medical assessment at Shifa International Hospital goes ahead, the immediate alarm may ease — though the underlying legal and political disputes will remain. If contact remains cut off, Sulaiman's warning is likely to draw wider international attention, including from human rights bodies and from governments that engage with Pakistan.
Other developments to watch include the condition of Noreen Niazi after her transfer to hospital from jail, the next steps in the detention of Khan's three sisters, and whether Sulaiman and Kasim attempt to travel to Pakistan despite reported advice against doing so. The state of emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the suspension of the PTI-led provincial government will also be watched closely, as will any response from Pakistan's Supreme Court to claims that its August order has been ignored.
For now, the facts that can be stated with confidence are these: a son has made grave allegations about his father's treatment in prison; the government denies them; and the family says it has had no contact with Khan since August. Everything beyond that — his current health, the status of the court order, and the reasons for the silence — remains contested, and the burden of clarifying it now sits with the authorities holding him.
Sulaiman Khan, 29, is the elder son of former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan from his first marriage to Jemima Goldsmith. He lives in London and joined X this week under the handle @SulaimanKNiazi to campaign publicly about his father's imprisonment.
Sulaiman alleges that no one has seen or heard from his father since August, when Khan allegedly said he was being tortured and feared the authorities were trying to kill him. He says his father's health is deteriorating, and that an August Supreme Court order for medical assessment and regular family and lawyer visits has been ignored. These are allegations, not proven facts.
Pakistan's government denies mistreatment and solitary confinement. Its Ministry of Information told the Associated Press in August that Khan is a convicted prisoner serving sentences imposed by courts following judicial proceedings, not someone held under a government order.
Imran Khan, prime minister from 2018 to 2022, has been jailed since August 2023 after convictions on corruption and bribery charges, which he denies as politically motivated. He faces charges in more than 100 cases.
The key questions are whether family and lawyers regain access to Khan, whether a medical assessment at Shifa International Hospital takes place, and how the authorities respond to claims that a Supreme Court order has not been complied with. The condition of his sister Noreen Niazi, taken to hospital from jail this week, is also being watched.
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