'He will not be broken': Imran Khan's sons on ex-Pak PM's incarceration; legal team appeals to UN over 'rights violation'

The sons of jailed former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said their father “will not be broken” by his “unlawful” imprisonment, as his legal team lodged an appeal with the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture. Khan’s elder son, Sulaiman Khan, condemned his father’s treatment in a statement attached to the appeal: “He is being kept in conditions that no human being should endure. These are violations of his rights, and they amount to torture.”His younger son, Kasim Khan, said: “The UN has already recognised that our father’s imprisonment is arbitrary and unlawful. What he is enduring now shows how far the regime will go to break him. But he will not be broken.” Sulaiman and Kasim are the cricketer-turned-politician’s sons with British filmmaker Jemima Goldsmith, with whom he was married for nine years until 2004. They live in the UK with Goldsmith. The appeal, filed by the US-based law firm Perseus Strategies on behalf of Khan’s legal team, alleged a “systematic pattern of abuse, including prolonged solitary confinement, denial of medical care, contaminated food, and restricted access to legal counsel and family visits.”

His lawyers argued that these conditions breach Pakistan’s obligations under the UN Convention against Torture (CAT) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). They urged the UN to press authorities to safeguard the former PM’s physical and mental well-being. Khan has been in prison since August 2023 after being charged in multiple cases.(With ANI inputs)