Imran Khan Returned to Prison After Controversial Hospital Transfer
3 sources across 3 countries · France · Pakistan · United States
Who reported this
- France 24
- Dawn
- Associated Press
What the colours mean
- Left
- Centre-left
- Centre
- Centre-right
- Right
- A hatched block means the outlet is affiliated with, or controlled by, a state.
Political lean describes where an outlet sits within the politics of its own country. It is never a position on a single global scale.
Political lean is comparable inside one country and not across them, which is why the bar groups by country first. Publicly funded broadcasters are not marked as state-linked.
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Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan was returned to prison early Friday morning after being taken to a hospital in Islamabad for medical examinations. While the Supreme Court had previously ordered his transfer to the private Shifa International Hospital, the government instead took him to the state run Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims). Government officials, including Parliamentary Affairs Minister Dr. Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, stated that the change in venue was a security decision made by law enforcement agencies who believed they could not control the law and order situation at the private facility. Information Minister Attaullah Tarar announced that Khan was declared medically fit following the check up.
Supporters of the former premier and members of the PTI have accused the government of committing contempt of court by defying the Supreme Court order. Dr. Uzma Khan, the sister of the former premier, reported that Imran Khan complained of mental torture and anxiety due to solitary confinement. She stated that he fears he could be killed through isolation. In response to these developments, the PTI led opposition alliance announced plans for a protest on September 27. The controversy also disrupted a Senate session on Friday when the chair disallowed a PTI lawmaker from speaking on the government's non compliance with the court order.
Legal challenges continue as the Islamabad chief commissioner approached the Supreme Court to argue that the original order to move Khan to a private hospital was discriminatory. The petition argued that granting such a privilege to one convict would violate prison rules and encourage other prisoners to seek similar treatment. Center left sources framed the event as a failure of government magnanimity and a political tussle that made the judiciary appear irrelevant. Meanwhile, center sources focused on the official government justifications regarding security and the rejection of allegations of medical neglect.
How each side framed it
- Centre-left
- Framed the government's actions as a defiant political move that undermined the judiciary and highlighted the former premier's claims of mental torture.
- Centre
- Focused on the official government security justifications and the rejection of mistreatment claims.
Sources
- Centre Associated Press: Pakistan rejects allegations of mistreatment, medical neglect of imprisoned ex-Premier Imran Khan - AP News
- Centre-left Dawn: PTI lawmaker not allowed to speak on ‘SC order violation’
- Centre-left Dawn: Hospital visit
- Centre-left Dawn: Islamabad chief commissioner again moves SC against ‘discriminatory’ order to shift Imran to private hospital
- Centre-left Dawn: Govt says shifting Imran to Pims instead of Shifa a ‘security decision’, insists move not political
- Centre-left Dawn: ‘Imran wants movement for his release expedited’
- Centre France 24: Pakistan: former Prime Minister Imran Khan returned to prison
100% of the statements in this article were traced back to the source articles listed above.