‘They fear he’ll win the next election’: Boris Johnson on Imran Khan’s imprisonment

Former British prime minister Boris Johnson has urged the UK to use its influence to help secure the release of jailed former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan, claiming Pakistan’s military leadership fears Khan could win the next election if he is freed. Johnson made the remarks in a video published by the Daily Mail, which also carried his article on Khan’s imprisonment.

Writing for the newspaper, Johnson described Khan as being held in harsh conditions in a Pakistani jail, alleging that the 73-year-old former prime minister has spent more than three years in solitary confinement in a small cell with limited access to exercise, books, newspapers and visitors.

Johnson said Khan’s treatment has drawn criticism from the UN special rapporteur on torture and Amnesty International. He also cited concerns raised by Pakistan’s Supreme Court over Khan’s access to proper medical care.

Khan, who served as Pakistan’s prime minister from 2018 to 2022, has faced a series of criminal cases since his removal from office. Johnson described the cases as politically motivated and said most had collapsed, leaving the Al-Qadir Trust case as the major conviction Khan continues to challenge.

Under the case, Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, were convicted over allegations involving funds linked to a British investigation and a property developer. Johnson noted that Khan is appealing the conviction and argued that prosecutors had acknowledged that neither Khan nor his wife personally benefited financially from the university donation at the centre of the case.

“Even if these accusations were true in every particular,” Johnson wrote, Khan did not deserve what he described as the “mental and physical torture” he was allegedly facing in prison.

Johnson said Khan should be allowed to have his appeal heard promptly and by an independent court.

In the video shared by the Daily Mail, Johnson also claimed that Pakistan’s generals were preventing Khan from being released because they feared he would win the next election if allowed to return to politics.