Imran was taken to PIMS on own request, Azam Nazeer Tarar tells Senate

Law minister says injection administered, procedure successful; PTI founder being provided all facilities under law

ISLAMABAD:

Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar informed the Senate on Tuesday that Pakistan Tehreek e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan was taken to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) upon his own request.

PIMS previously confirmed that Imran was brought to the hospital, where, after his consent was obtained, he was administered an anti-VEGF intravitreal injection to treat a right central retinal vein occlusion. The PTI rejected the PIMS report on Imran’s eye treatment, demanding that he be treated at Shaukat Khanum Hospital and that his family be allowed to meet him.

Speaking in the Senate today, the law minister termed PIMS Islamabad’s leading public-sector tertiary hospital, and said that a medical board had examined Imran, administered the required injection and noted positive progress.

Read: Imran Khan taken to hospital for minor eye procedure, confirms Tarar

Tarar stated that the former premier reportedly asked to be taken in the evening if there were any potential issues related to law and order. "The PTI founder faced one specific issue," Tarar said, adding that Imran personally requested that the injection be administered to him at PIMS.

Stating that Imran’s health was "completely fine" and that his procedure was successful, Tarar said that there was no further issue concerning the former premier. He also stated that the diagnosis and treatment details had been officially shared through a press briefing by the executive director of PIMS.

Tarar assured the Senate that if any further medical need arose, all facilities would be provided as per the law. He said the federal government fully respected human rights and had never issued any directive to deny medical treatment to any prisoner.

However, the law minister stressed that any further relief regarding medical care, meetings or prison conditions must be sought through the Islamabad High Court, which was the competent appellate forum in the matter.

Further, the minister stated that Imran was a convicted prisoner in corruption cases and was being provided all medical and legal facilities in accordance with the law and prison rules.

Responding to a point raised by the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Allama Raja Nasir Abbas, Tarar said that the Constitution guaranteed rights to every individual, but the enforcement of those rights was regulated through legal procedures.

Read More: PTI rejects PIMS report, calls for Imran Khan’s treatment at Shaukat Khanum

He said the former prime minister was convicted after a full-fledged open trial lasting over a year in a National Accountability Bureau corruption case and was currently serving his sentence as a confined prisoner.

The minister said that the former premier was also convicted in another reference involving the under-valuation of a jewellery set, where assets worth millions of rupees were shown at a much lower price, causing loss to the national exchequer.