Pakistan Ex-PM Imran Khan Back in Jail After Court-Ordered Hospital Visit Ends Sooner Than Expected
Pakistan Ex-PM Imran Khan Back in Jail After Shorter-Than-Expected Hospital Visit A prison van moves past police officers guarding the road leading to Shifa International Hospital after the Supreme Court ordered authorities to move jailed former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan to the hospital, in Islamabad, Pakistan, August 20, 2026. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro By Ariba Shahid, Asif Shahzad and Mubasher Bukhari ISLAMABAD, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan was briefly taken to hospital, declared medically fit and sent back to prison within a few hours early on Friday, a surprise move that his supporters and party said violated a top court directive. The former premier's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party said it would file a contempt petition against what it termed a blatant violation of the Supreme Court order from earlier this week that, according to the party's interpretation, meant Khan should remain under medical supervision until at least mid-September. Khan has been imprisoned there since 2023.
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Senior PTI members had expected Khan to remain hospitalized at least for several weeks after he was allowed to leave prison to have his health checked for the first time since February. The government has said medical reports have disclosed no condition requiring immediate treatment. (Reporting by Asif Shahzad and Rick Noack in Islamabad, Mubasher Bukhari in Lahore and Ariba Shahid in Karachi; Writing by Hritam Mukherjee and Shilpa Jamkhandikar; Editing by Rick Noack, Tom Hogue, and Saad Sayeed) Have the parent playbook for applying to college delivered to your inbox each Thursday.
