London:
The ex-wife of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday called for his immediate release, citing “serious and worrying” reports about his treatment in prison.
Jemima Goldsmith said that since early September, Pakistani authorities have stopped all visits by her family and lawyers, postponed court hearings and prevented her from calling her two sons.
The electricity in his cell was cut off and he was not allowed to leave his home at any time while the prison cook was sent on vacation, she wrote in a lengthy post on social media platform X.
Ms Goldsmith, who was married to the former Pakistan cricket team captain from 1995 to 2004, said: “He is now in complete isolation, in solitary confinement, literally in the dark, with no contact with the outside world.” ” he said.
In recent weeks, serious and worrying developments have occurred regarding the treatment of the children’s father, Imran Khan, in prison. Pakistani authorities have canceled all visits to him by his family and lawyers. They also postponed all court hearings. In addition…
— Jemima Goldsmith (@Jemima_Khan) October 15, 2024
The couple have two sons, Sulaiman and Qasim, and live in London.
In July, a United Nations panel of experts accused Pakistan of arbitrarily detaining Khan in violation of international law, apparently to prevent him from running for political office.
Khan, 72, served as Pakistan’s prime minister from 2018 to 2022, but has been embroiled in more than 200 lawsuits since being ousted in a parliamentary no-confidence vote that he claimed was orchestrated by the country’s most powerful generals. are.
He has been detained since August last year and is prohibited from running for office. He then applied to become the next president of the University of Oxford in England.
Ms Goldsmith said Ms Khan’s family had also been targeted, with her sister and nephew unlawfully arrested and imprisoned and she had been subjected to rape and death threats from her ex-husband’s political opponents.
She added that the release of Mr. Khan, his nephew and sister, and the resumption of contact with his sons would provide “direct assurance that he is healthy and has not been abused.”
“I disagree with IK on many political issues,” she wrote. “But this is not about politics. This is about the father of my children, his human rights and international law.”
