Jemima Goldsmith, the ex-wife of Pakistan’s imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan, has made serious accusations against the Shehbaz Sharif-led government. She claimed that Khan is being held in solitary confinement, with authorities cutting off the electricity in his jail cell and halting his weekly phone calls to their sons.
Goldsmith’s claims emerged as Pakistan hosts the ongoing two-day SCO Summit in Islamabad, attended by top leaders, including India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, with heavy security turning the capital into a fortress.
Ahead of the summit, hundreds of Imran Khan’s supporters were arrested as they attempted to march in Islamabad, demanding his release.
In a social media post on Tuesday, Goldsmith, who was married to Imran Khan from 1995 to 2004, alleged that Pakistani authorities had postponed all of Khan’s court hearings and stopped visits from his friends and family.
Khan has been held at Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi since his arrest on August 5, 2023.
“In addition to cutting off in-person visits, and in defiance of a court order, his weekly calls to our sons, Sulaiman and Kasim, who are British citizens living in London, were stopped on September 10,” she said, referring to their two sons.
“We’ve received reports that the authorities have now turned off the lights and electricity in his cell, and he is no longer allowed out. The jail cook has been sent on leave. He is now completely isolated, in solitary confinement, literally in the dark, with no contact with the outside world. His lawyers are worried about his safety and well-being.”
Goldsmith further claimed that not only is Imran Khan being mistreated, but his family members are also facing persecution in an attempt to silence political opposition.
“Imran’s nephew, Hassan Niazi, a civilian, has been held in military custody since August 2023. More recently, Imran Khan’s sisters, Uzma and Aleema Khan, were arrested while peacefully heading to a protest. They are currently jailed, despite there being no lawful grounds for their detention,” she said, calling for their immediate release.
Imran Khan, 72, served as Prime Minister from 2018 to 2022, before being ousted in a no-confidence vote after clashing with the powerful military establishment. He now faces several legal cases, with convictions in multiple instances.
