Imran Khan, celebrated as one of Pakistan’s cricket legends, now finds himself confined in a ‘death cell’ within the very nation he once thrilled with his sporting prowess.

Recognized as a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1983 and revered as the captain who led Pakistan to victory in the 1992 World Cup, Khan’s life off the field saw him transition from a playboy to a devout figure, and eventually, a polarizing Prime Minister.

At 73, Khan endures solitary confinement for 23 hours a day in a bleak, windowless cell plagued by extreme temperatures, poor ventilation, offensive odors, and insect infestations, according to a United Nations report. His sons harbor fears they might never reunite with him.

Nicknamed ‘Taliban Khan’ by critics, he was first arrested in August 2023 and subsequently sentenced to 14 years in prison this January on corruption charges. Since his political ousting in 2022, he has faced over 200 legal cases. This trajectory is hardly shocking in a country like Pakistan, where former political leaders often face imprisonment or worse.

Rumors of his demise swirled until his sister, Uzma Khanum, recently managed a rare visit, offering insights into his current state.

Pakistani cricket icon and ex-Prime Minister Imran Khan, 73, is jailed in squalid conditions 

This image of Khan’s jail cell was shared on social media by his political party in Pakistan 

Khan seen celebrating after captaining Pakistan to the 1992 Cricket World Cup in Australia 

‘He’s physically well. However, he said that they are subjecting him to mental torture, and that Asim Munir [Pakistan’s chief of army staff] is responsible for all of this,’ she said. 

‘He’s kept inside all the time, and only goes out for a short while. There’s no contact with anybody.’

Other accounts indicate worse health. One medical report seen by The Telegraph indicated that he was suffering from hearing loss and vertigo. 

Earlier this year, Khan himself complained on X: ‘I am enduring the harshest prison term in the country’s history.

‘The level of oppression and authoritarianism is such that even the water I have for ablution is filthy and contaminated with dirt, unfit for any human being.

‘I have spent countless hours re-reading the same old books, but now even those are no longer available.

‘Despite repeated requests, I have not been allowed to speak to my children. Political meetings have also been restricted; I am only permitted to meet certain “choice individuals”, while all other interactions are barred.’ 

Khan is held in the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi. It’s a Category A, high-security facility housing terrorists, crime chiefs, dangerous offenders, and political prisoners. Phones are banned. 

Khan seen with his two sons, Kasim and Sulaiman, who fear they may never see him again 

Supporters of Khan have protested for his immediate release; some have been arrested for it

His ex-wife, Jemima Goldsmith, has called on Elon Musk to stop suppressing posts about him

The conditions, by many accounts, are atrocious.

One inmate told Dawn: ‘The meat reeks of diesel rather than cooking oil. Drinking water is supplied through bore wells which makes the inmates susceptible to numerous diseases.’

Speaking to The Independent, Khan’s son Kasim said: ‘The conditions my father is kept in are extremely harsh. He is confined to what is effectively a death cell, with poor hygiene and no proper facilities. 

‘For almost a year now, he has not been allowed to see his personal doctor.’ 

A spokesperson for Pakistan’s current Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, told Sky news that Khan is a national security threat and that he has used meetings with people as an outlet to rally support. 

The barrage of legal action against Khan is complex. As aforementioned, he was sentenced to 14 years behind bars for corruption. 

That came after he and his wife Bushra Bibi, a faith healer and politician, were accused of receiving land as a bribe, given through the Al-Qadir Trust, from real estate tycoon Malik Riaz.

Khan is said to have let Riaz pay £190million worth of court fines using laundered money. That cash was returned to the Pakistani government by Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) in 2022. 

The Lion of Lahore reinvented his image from a London partyboy to a pro-Islamic politician

Khan is seen meeting Princess Diana with his former wife Jemima in Lahore in 1996

Both Khan and Bibi deny wrongdoing. Their argument is that they made no personal gain and that the charitable Al-Qadir University was built on the donated land. 

In their eyes, their incarceration is nothing other than politically motivated. Other convictions against him have been overturned. Last year, he was acquitted of leaking state secrets – something he had previously been given a 10-year prison sentence for. 

But there are other convictions against them. He and Bibi are both also imprisoned for seven years after it was ruled that their marriage in 2018 was un-Islamic and illegal – it came too soon after her previous one. 

Khan is one of Pakistan’s most divisive figures. For some he is an anti-establishment hero. To others, corrupt and overly sympathetic to the Taliban. In 2022 he became the first-ever Prime Minister in his country’s history to be axed with a no-confidence vote. 

His sons Sulaiman and Kasim, from his first marriage to Jemima Goldsmith, have been lobbying on his behalf but accept that their father does not want to compromise on his principles. 

‘I genuinely think he would be depressed if he came to London,’ Kasim told The Telegraph. ‘It would be gnawing away at him that the country was in a shambles and run by these crooks, and I don’t think he’d be able to lead a happy life. What keeps him going, keeps him alive, is fighting against that.’ 

Directly opposing his arrest in Pakistan could bring nasty consequences for themselves and deprive him of a mouthpiece to the outside world. And there is little prospect of official support from the United States, where there is some vocal backing for his release.

‘The army chief and [Donald] Trump have, unfortunately, got quite a good relationship at the moment. Pakistan’s government has said that it will nominate Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize,’ Sulaiman said. 

Party supporters of Imran Khan pictured gathering outside Adiala prison in November 

A woman holds a photo of Khan outside his prison as protestors demand that he is allowed to be visited by his family 

And according to his former wife Goldsmith, a journalist and aristocrat, Trump’s ally Elon Musk is suppressing posts about Khan on X.

She quoted an interaction she had had with Grok – X’s AI chatbot – which, according to her, read: ‘Every time you post anything about Imran’s jail conditions, solitary confinement or your son’s access to their father, the algorithm limits the post.

‘The Pakistani authorities have made criticism from Imran Khan’s immediate circle one of their top online enforcement priorities, and X is quietly complying just enough to keep the platform alive in the country.’

Goldsmith claimed that Grok had found evidence of ‘secret throttling’ on her account and called on Musk to consider his commitment to free speech. 

Otherwise, there is little way for her to get the word out about Khan – his name and image, for example, are banned on Pakistani TV and radio. 

But he still has plenty of support from inside Pakistan. Obviously, there is no way to independently establish Khan’s level of guilt in relation to the allegations against him, but people don’t forget their heroes. 

In August, 240 protestors were arrested after they called for Khan’s release on the second anniversary of his jailing. 

At least 122 were arrested trying to block roads and threatening law and order in the city of Lahore. 

Khan’s sons say that Donald Trump’s ties with the Pakistani regime means there is little chance of official support from the United States

Khan says he has been offered a way out of prison. In a post on X, he claimed he had been offered a three-year exile while he was in the Attock Jail in Punjab, but he refused. He had been given the chance to go to his Bani Gala residence in Islamabad. Another route is exile in London. 

‘I will live and die in Pakistan,’ he wrote.

‘My stance is clear: release my detained workers and leaders first. Only then will I consider discussing my personal situation.’

Indeed, 108 of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party were sentenced to prison in May. 

The Lion of Lahore, as he was once known, has already proven adept at reinventing himself; from having flings with women in London’s nightclubs to becoming a pro-Islamic, anti-West politician. He is also, clearly, stubborn in the face of adversary.

What the future holds is unclear but one thing is certain: where he once united a nation, his fate will continue to divide it.