Reporting snapshot · 29 August 2026. This reports the government's statement and the allegations it was answering. The competing claims about Mr Khan's detention conditions and medical care remain contested.
What happened
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on 29 August 2026 urged foreign media outlets to reflect “documented facts” in reporting on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf founder and former prime minister Imran Khan, instead of what it called “unfounded political allegations.”
The ministry’s External Publicity Wing rejected reports that Mr Khan was being held in solitary confinement, denied access to his family or deprived of adequate medical care, saying official prison and medical records did not support the claims. It described some of the stories as “misleading” and as “propaganda.”
A day earlier, Mr Khan’s sons appeared on Sky News reiterating concerns about their father’s health. Earlier in August, Kasim Khan and Sulaiman Khan told CNN that authorities had prevented family members, lawyers and doctors from visiting him for months. They said they had not seen their father since November 2022, and that they had applied for visas in January without receiving a response. Mr Khan has been imprisoned since August 2023 and is serving a sentence at Adiala Jail in a £190 million corruption case; he also faces pending trials under anti-terrorism law over the 9 May 2023 protests.
The government’s account
The ministry said Mr Khan was serving sentences awarded by courts and was not being held under executive detention, and that his imprisonment was governed by the Pakistan Prison Rules, judicial directions and the security arrangements for a high-profile prisoner. It rejected allegations of punitive solitary confinement, cruelty or deprivation, saying he was allowed visits, telephone calls, reading material and television access subject to prison rules and court orders. He was also permitted home-cooked food and exercise equipment and was served meals including meat, fruit, milk, nuts and juices, the statement said.
His accommodation comprised an exclusive seven-cell compound with sleeping, sanitation and exercise facilities, according to the ministry. It said prison records showed about 198 interview sessions and more than 900 visitor entries since his imprisonment, including sisters, other family members, lawyers, doctors and political representatives. Mr Khan had been allowed weekly meetings with his wife, the latest recorded on 4 August, and records documented telephone, landline and WhatsApp communications with family, including a call with one of his sons on 21 March, the ministry said. More recently he met his sisters on 18, 19 and 25 August.
On medical care, the ministry said Mr Khan had undergone about 30 examinations by specialist teams and medical boards involving institutions including PIMS, Shifa International, Shaukat Khanum and Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospitals, in addition to examinations by the prison doctor. After a retinal condition was diagnosed, it said, he received five intravitreal anti-VEGF injections, retinal imaging, medication and follow-up examinations. Assessments in July and on 21 August described him as oriented and stable, with no recorded acute or unmanaged deterioration, according to the ministry.
The statement also cited recent comments by his sister, Dr Uzma Niazi, who had told the media that he was “100% fit”, citing a blood pressure reading of 120/80 and saying his eye condition had almost completely healed. The ministry said those comments did not support allegations of deliberate or systematic medical neglect. It also said both sons held valid National Identity Cards for Overseas Pakistanis and could travel to Pakistan, while the question of visiting prison remained subject to prison rules, judicial directions and security procedures.
Why it matters
The exchange puts the government’s official account of Mr Khan’s detention directly against claims made by his family and reported by some foreign outlets, in a dispute that has drawn in the Senate and the courts. A medical examination at PIMS on 21 August, rather than the Shifa International Hospital ordered by the Supreme Court, is reported separately.
The ministry referred to a Supreme Court direction that, pending further proceedings, members of Mr Khan’s family, his party and associated lawyers should not disclose or share his health condition or medical reports with the media or the public. It argued that the right of a prisoner to appropriate medical treatment must be distinguished from attempts to use confidential medical information for political campaigning or public messaging.
What is still uncertain
The ministry’s statement did not resolve the underlying dispute over visitation or medical access, and the accuracy of some competing claims remains contested. It was not clear whether the government would facilitate visits by Mr Khan’s sons, how the prison rules would be applied to them, or how the Supreme Court’s directions on his medical care would be enforced as further hearings take place.
Sources & reporting notes
This is a summary of published reporting, not independent on-the-ground reporting. Facts and attributed remarks are as carried by the cited sources, which were reviewed on 29 August 2026.
- The Express Tribune — "Info ministry urges foreign media to reflect 'documented facts' in reporting on Imran Khan"29 August 2026 · The ministry's statement, the rejected allegations, the prison and medical records cited, the sons' Sky News and CNN remarks, and the Supreme Court direction on medical disclosures.
- Kashmir English — "Pakistan govt rejects allegations of Imran Khan's mistreatment, solitary confinement"29 August 2026 · The government's rejection of claims about solitary confinement, family access and medical care, and the list of hospitals involved in his examinations.
