LAHORE: A YouTuber has been arrested in Pakistan's Punjab province for filming the security convoy in which jailed former prime minister Imran Khan was taken to a hospital in Islamabad for his eye treatment, a police official said Wednesday.
The 73-year-old cricketer-turned-politician, who has been at Adiala Jail since 2023, was taken to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) on Tuesday for a second dose of anti-VEGF intravitreal injection. Last month, Khan was diagnosed with right central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) affecting his vision.
"YouTuber Haider Saeed, who has affiliation with Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, has been arrested for filming the security convoy that was taking Khan to the hospital on Tuesday for his eye treatment," a senior officer of Punjab Police told PTI.
He said the suspect not only filmed the security convoy but also uploaded it on social media, causing a security risk for Khan and the security personnel. "The suspect has been shifted to the Adiala police post and a case registered against him," he said.
Khan's family and the party have been demanding that he should be shifted to Shifa Hospital in Islamabad for treatment and that his personal physicians be allowed to see him.
Khan’s sister Aleema Khan on Wednesday said her brother is saying that he was unable to see, and he should be given immediate access to his personal doctors.
She appealed to human rights organisations to raise their voice for Khan’s health.
"We do not trust the diagnosis or test reports from government medical facilities. When the law requires that the family be informed before any medical procedure is conducted on a prisoner, why was the family not informed?” she said earlier.
She said that the PIMS doctors are being threatened with serious consequences if any information is leaked about Khan.
“Our family rejects their reports, even if they issue these doctored reports to the public. We stand by our demand that Imran Khan be examined and treated in Shifa International by specialists, under the supervision of Imran Khan’s personal doctors and in the presence of his family,” she added.
Khan has been in jail since August 2023 in multiple cases. He was convicted and sentenced to 14 years' imprisonment in a corruption case, while over a dozen cases against him are at different stages in the courts.