Jemima Goldsmith asks UK to break silence on Imran Khan's jail treatment

Jemima Goldsmith has urged the UK government to speak publicly on Imran Khan's treatment in custody. Her appeal sharpens focus on alleged defiance of court orders, worsening health concerns and rights violations.Stock photo used for illustrationJemima Goldsmith on Monday questioned what she called the British government's silence over the treatment of former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan, saying his health was suffering after years in custody. In a post on X, she urged Britain to speak out publicly and said Khan was facing a "brutal penalisation" by his political opponents and Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff, Field Marshal Asim Munir.Khan, 73, was arrested on August 5, 2023, in a corruption case and has remained in custody since then. He has been lodged in Adiala Jail on the outskirts of Rawalpindi. Goldsmith wrote, "How much longer will Britain remain silent?" and said, "For three years, the father of my two sons, and Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan, has been brutally penalised by his political opponents, in a personal vendetta by Army Chief Asim Munir, which according to the UN, amounts to torture and which is now taking a potentially fatal toll on his physical and mental health."Last week, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf founder was shifted from jail to the state-run Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in Islamabad instead of the private Shifa International Hospital. The Supreme Court had directed the government to move Khan to Shifa International Hospital for a thorough check-up and said he could stay there till September 16, 2026. His party has filed a contempt petition in the Supreme Court against Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and six others for allegedly violating that order. The petition is yet to be taken up.Goldsmith said Khan had endured "3 years of solitary confinement" and that for nearly 10 months his family had been denied contact with him. "He has been deprived of the most basic human contact, denied access to books, lawyers and doctors," she said. Referring to the UN's Nelson Mandela Rules, she said solitary confinement of more than 15 consecutive days was prohibited and amounted to torture. "He has endured this treatment not for 15 days, but for three years. Pakistan's own Supreme Court has now intervened: ordering comprehensive medical treatment, access to his personal doctor, regular family visits and twice-weekly calls with his sons. Yet those orders are being defied," she said, adding that the matter was now "a human-rights emergency". She also said Khan had "deep and lifelong ties to Britain", noting that he studied at Oxford University, captained Oxford University cricket and played county cricket in England. Goldsmith said his charitable work included building a free cancer hospital in Pakistan as well as a university. Referring to their sons, she wrote, "His sons, my two boys -- Sulaiman and Kasim -- are British citizens. They have been forced to watch their father's health decline from thousands of miles away, prevented from visiting him, denied visas, publicly threatened by government officials with arrest themselves, and even denied court-mandated regular phone calls." She appealed to the UK government to intervene and said, "Britain must now speak out publicly and unequivocally. Demand that Pakistan comply with its own Supreme Court; restore Imran Khan's medical access, his right to see his family, end his prolonged isolation and uphold his fundamental human rights."Goldsmith said Pakistan was a Commonwealth country and that Britain had a long tradition of standing against arbitrary detention, inhumane treatment and denial of fundamental rights. She said those principles meant little if they were applied selectively, and renewed her appeal to what she called the new Burnham government to act. Her remarks centred on Khan's continued detention, his medical treatment and access to family, lawyers and doctors. With PTI Inputs- EndsPublished By: India Today Web Desk Published On: Aug 24, 2026 21:42 IST