Former Australian captain Greg Chappell with the support of 20 other former international skippers appealed to the Pakistan Government led by Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, to provide ‘humane treatment and proper medical care’ for Imran Khan, former Pakistan Prime Minister and former Pakistan cricket captain.
We wrote then not as politicians, but as former colleagues and rivals who share a bond forged on the cricket field — one that transcends the borders and disputes that too often divide countries. reportedly just occurred. Pakistan’s Supreme Court ordered that Imran Khan be transferred to hospital for examination by a medical board that was to include his own personal physicians and his sister, Dr Uzma Khan. The Court also reinstated weekly family visits. These were very welcome steps.
Appeal by 21 Former International Cricket Captains on the Medical Treatment and Six months ago, fourteen former international cricket captains wrote to you and the Pakistani government appealing for humane treatment and proper medical care for Imran Khan.
Concerningly, Mr Khan’s hospital stay lasted only a few hours. His family and legal team say this falls short of what the Court ordered. That whatever the outcome of that medical assessment, the treatment recommended by it be provided without delay. Whatever the legal and political arguments surrounding his case, the basic decency of ensuring a court-ordered medical process is actually completed is not, in our view, a controversial request.
3. Imran Khan is 73 years old and has now spent more than three years in custody.
He was examined by a state-appointed team rather than the board the Court had directed, declared “medically fit,” and returned to Adiala Jail before that board could complete its work.
