Cricketers appeal to PM Shehbaz for Imran's treatment in line with Supreme Court directives

Twenty-two former international cricketers, including 21 former captains, have appealed to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to ensure that former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan receives medical treatment in accordance with recent Supreme Court directives, according to ESPN Cricinfo.

On August 18, the Supreme Court ordered that Imran be transferred to Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad, where he was to be examined and treated by a multidisciplinary medical board. However, he was instead taken to the government-run Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims). Reports also indicated that Pims lacked the facilities needed to conduct a recommended computed tomography angiography (CTA).

In their letter, the former cricketers welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision to allow Imran’s personal doctors and his sister, Dr Uzma Khan, to be part of the medical board. They also welcomed the restoration of weekly family visits. However, they expressed concern that Imran remained in hospital for only a few hours and was subsequently returned to Adiala Jail after being examined by a state-appointed medical team.

The former players urged the authorities to allow the medical board ordered by the Supreme Court to conduct a complete and independent assessment of Imran’s health, particularly his reported loss of vision in the right eye. They also called for uninterrupted weekly family visits and immediate treatment based on the findings of the medical assessment.

The signatories included prominent former cricketers such as Michael Atherton, Allan Border, Greg Chappell, Ian Chappell, Belinda Clark, Alastair Cook, Sunil Gavaskar, Adam Gilchrist, David Gower, Nasser Hussain, Clive Lloyd, Kapil Dev, Arjuna Ranatunga, Andrew Strauss and Steve Waugh.

The former cricketers said they were making the appeal as former colleagues and rivals who shared a bond through cricket, rather than as political figures. They stressed that they were not attempting to interfere in Pakistan’s domestic legal proceedings but were seeking proper medical care and humane treatment for their former sporting colleague.

Several of the signatories had previously raised concerns about Imran’s prison conditions and access to medical care in February. They had called on the Pakistani authorities to provide him with timely medical attention, dignified treatment and unhindered access to legal processes.

Imran has remained imprisoned since August 2023 after being convicted in several cases, which he maintains are politically motivated following his removal from office in a parliamentary vote in 2022. Concerns over his health have intensified in recent months, particularly following the diagnosis of right central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO), an eye condition that emerged in late January.

The issue has also triggered a dispute between Imran’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party and the government. PTI has accused the authorities of failing to provide adequate and transparent medical care, while the government has rejected such allegations.