Two sisters of Pakistan's jailed former prime minister Imran Khan walked out of Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore on Thursday after the Punjab government withdrew the order holding them in detention, their lawyer and Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party said.
Advocate Rana Mudassar said the two were freed at 2 pm local time (0900 GMT), after the authorities pulled a joint detention order that lawyers had challenged and which had already been extended once. A hearing in the matter had been listed for the day. A third sister, Aleema Khan, remains in prison, and her lawyers are seeking the withdrawal of her separate detention order.
"Finally, some good news. Two of former PM Imran Khan's sisters -- Dr Uzma Khan and Noreen Niazi -- were released from Kot Lakhpat Jail following the withdrawal of their detention orders (by the Punjab government)," senior party leader and former federal minister Moonis Elahi said. He added that Aleema Khan, Khan's elder sister, was still behind bars and that he hoped she and Khan's wife, Bushra Bibi, would be freed soon.
Another senior leader, Zulfi Bokhari, said the relief was partial. "The release of two sisters does not end the injustice or erase the suffering inflicted on Imran Khan's family. The demand is clear -- no selective relief, no intimidation, and no further persecution," he said.
The three sisters were taken into custody in September under a public safety law, with 30-day detention orders, to stop them from mobilising people for a countrywide protest demanding Khan's release. The government at the time called the party's protest call illegal.
Khan, 74, a former cricket captain who was prime minister from 2018 to 2022, has been in prison since August 2023 and faces more than 100 cases, including corruption and charges of inciting violence. He and his legal team reject the allegations and describe the cases as politically motivated.
His wife, Bushra Bibi, was arrested on January 17, 2025, in a separate case in which the couple were convicted.
This week Khan was taken to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in Islamabad for an eye ailment, returning to Rawalpindi's central jail overnight, before lawyers met him at Adiala Jail on Wednesday for about four hours. The meeting followed a direction from the Islamabad High Court to facilitate it. Lawyer Latif Khosa said Khan's blood pressure was fluctuating to dangerous levels and that he had problems with his eyesight, though he remained active.
The Supreme Court had ruled in August that Khan should be moved to a civilian hospital for treatment, but he was sent back to prison after a short stay in a government-run hospital.
Khan was ousted through a parliamentary vote of no confidence in 2022, after falling out with the military establishment that had backed his rise. He has accused the military leadership, including Army Chief General Asim Munir, of engineering his removal. The military denies meddling in politics.
(Compiled from PTI and media reports with the help of our in-house AI tools, and edited by our desk)