“Respect The Rule of Law!” Sons of Imran Khan Speak Of Assassination Fears | Piers Morgan

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0:30Piers Morgan:The idea of your father being stuck in this cell, being tortured. He's in a very small cell, 22 hours a day at the moment. There have been 10 people who have died in that prison. What is your message to General Asim Muneer, the current leader in Pakistan? Respect democracy, respect the will of the Pakistani people, and respect the rule of law. Trump has a great relationship with our father and vice versa. Thank you, sir. If anyone can make a difference, he can. Are you prepared to risk being arrested and going to Pakistan? On one side, we just want to see him. It's been too long since we've spoken to him.

1:06Piers Morgan:Do you fear that he may die in there? There's so many ways for them to plot some kind of assassination.

1:15Piers Morgan:Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan has now been in jail for almost two years. He's currently serving a 14-year sentence on corruption charges he's always denied. His wife, Bushra, is serving seven years. REPORT SUGGESTS THAT BOTH KHAN AND HIS WIFE ARE NOW BEING KEPT IN HARSH AND DEGRADED CONDITIONS WHICH AMOUNT TO POLITICAL PERSECUTION. THE BUSHER HAS BEEN GRAVELY UNWELL. KHAN AND HIS PARTY REMAINED HUGELY POPULAR IN PAKISTAN. THE CASE IS ROYAL THE COUNTRY WHICH KHAN CLAIMS IS LIVING UNDER UNDECLARED MARTIAL LAW. WELL, JOINING ME FROM OUR STUDIO IN LONDON ARE IMRAN KHAN'S TWO SONS, SULLIMAN AND KASSIM.

1:51Piers Morgan:WELL, WELCOME TO BOTH OF YOU, TWO UNCENSORED. And, you know, I said this to your dad when I last interviewed him. When I was about 10 years old, I was a fan of Sussex County Cricket Club and used to bowl at your dad in the nets when he played at Sussex. And all I remember about him was he was an incredibly kind-hearted, generous man then as a cricketer who allowed kids to bowl him in the nets. So, you know, I go back a long way with your dad in his other incarnation as a great cricketer. For you guys, I know you both love your cricket, but for you guys, just on a human level, let me start with you, Suleiman, if I may.

2:31Piers Morgan:On a human level, you've now not seen your father for how long? Coming up to three years in November. And you haven't spoken to him, I think, for at least four months? Yeah. Last time he spoke was in March, I think. Right, and you're 28, and Kasim, you're 26. I've got three sons, 32, 28, 24. I couldn't imagine going a week without having any contact with them. What has this been like for you guys on a human level? I mean, it's been... It's obviously brutal. We're used to speaking to our father very often. I mean, the court mandated that we speak to him once a week. We barely spoke to him, you know, once every two or three months.

3:19and even when we did speak to him, we would often get a message at around 2am in the morning saying, you know, you're going to speak to him at 9am. And so if you miss it, that rolls on. It's another two months we didn't speak to him. So that was our one kind of solace, that we got to at least speak to him occasionally. Now, since the last interview we did, it seems they've become a little bit stricter, and we haven't spoken to him once since the last interview we did. It seems like that's kind of a technique that they're using to try and break him or cause him a little bit more distress.

3:55Piers Morgan:And, Solomon, what conditions do you believe your dad is now living in? So he's in a very small cell. He has to be in there 22 hours a day at the moment. He's only allowed out of his cell for two hours a day at the moment. They've restricted access. Books were kind of his only solace. They've kind of restricted access to the books that he wants. He's had access restrict to his lawyers and his personal physician and his family members restricted. I'd like to add as well as the conditions in that are awful, as in there have been 10 people who have died in that prison of hepatitis C. And that's because of unsanitary conditions, you know, equipment like razors and things that haven't been cleaned properly.

4:47So, you know, it's very, very clear to see their awful conditions. He's washing himself in water that isn't just unfiltered. It's visibly murky. It's apparently discoloured. So, you know, the hygiene levels in there are pretty abhorrent.

5:07Piers Morgan:Do you fear, Kasim, that he may die in there? I mean, you try not to think about things like that, but, yeah, I mean, I've had moments where I've thought, you know, am I going to see him again? And, you know, it's been so long, it's the longest we've ever not seen him, also the longest I've ever not spoken to him. So now it's just getting so desperate that, you know, we're quite private people, we don't usually do things like this, but it's getting to a stage where we're desperate. We want to do whatever we can. You know, I last spoke to your father just soon after the assassination attempt on his life, and he said this.

5:45Piers Morgan:When you're a political leader and you're in the situation that you're in now, where there's a genuine threat against you of assassination, do you feel fear?

5:59You know, Piers, when I entered politics, I actually had conquered my fear of dying. Otherwise, I would not have entered politics because I came in to stand up against the entire status quo. I came to fight corruption. Today, the entire political spectrum, 16 parties on one side and I'm on the other side. And because this was the status quo, which is 60 years of the last 62 years, half has been ruled by military and half by these two families. So I came to fight these two families.

6:34Piers Morgan:You know, he's shown extraordinary courage there, Qasim. You know, I'm not surprised. As a political leader, he's behaved exactly the way he did as a cricketer, you know, showing great courage and leadership and so on. But that was an occasion where he very nearly got killed. I mean, it was a very, very close escape from assassination. Again, as his son, what is that like for you? Look, Piers, we built a very thick skin with him. When we were younger, we knew he always went headfirst into very dangerous situations. He went against mafias. You know, we saw him get shot. That was the last time we actually went over there, was straight after that, and it's the last time we saw him.

7:23But, you know, he's a very resilient character. He's always been like that. It's his strong faith. He was like that even before he had that strong faith. It's obviously brutal to see him right now. This is one of the worst situations I've kind of gone through because we really didn't think it was going to be this long, his sentence or his incarceration. It's an unpredictable place, Pakistan, but to be in there nearly coming up to two years, yeah, it's brutal. So it's the first time I've really wavered a little bit on my faith in him being okay. So that's why we're here.

8:07Piers Morgan:Suleiman, I did another interview with your dad where he talked about you guys. Let's take a look at this. You also, Imran, you have kids back here in the UK, and your ex-wife Jemima was on Twitter saying how relieved they all were to see that you'd survived this. But, you know, in those moments, you must also... You're a father. You know, what were your thoughts, once you knew you'd survived, about your sons? Did you want to speak to them quickly? Because, obviously, they would hear about it, perhaps, before you could even talk to them. I went to the hospital two hours' drive. The moment I got there, then I spoke to my sons.

8:44And of course, I spoke to my wife, both of them. My wife actually was remarkable. You know, she was almost, she was, you know, the fact that I was saved, she was quite relieved. But my boys were sort of quite worried. And I hope to see them soon.

9:01Piers Morgan:I mean, are they keen for you now to stay out of the public eye? Is that on your mind, your sons and how they feel? My sons, when they were younger, I'm talking about my oldest son was very sensitive. So when they were about eight, nine years old, my oldest son, that's when he used to worry a lot. And he always wanted me out of politics. But I feel that we human beings have a responsibility to our society. And this is the spiritual way of life. There are two ways. One is material yourself, the other is the spiritual. And some 30 years ago when I went on the spiritual path, that's the only reason I came into politics, because I realised I had a responsibility being so privileged in this country.

9:52How do you feel watching that back, Solomon? Well, it's completely true. When I was younger, sort of 9, 10, we'd constantly hear about his life being in danger, and I'd always beg him to leave politics, live a more comfortable life, maybe living off the back of his cricket career. But as we've got older, as he's got more successful in politics, I've kind of learned that, and also just getting older and understanding these things a bit more, he wouldn't be happy if he wasn't doing what he's doing. Even if he was living a comfortable life with us in the UK or in Pakistan, He genuinely wouldn't be happy if he wasn't trying to make a change over there.

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12:05Piers Morgan:There's an obligation, only useful information. With an A-plus rating, with the Better Business Bureau, and tens of thousands of happy customers, Birch Gold lets you take control of your savings today. Text the word Piers, that's P-I-E-R-S, to 989898. 9-8. Kassim, I know that you guys were planning to go over to Pakistan and try and help your father and maybe even affect his release, but that you've been told you won't get visas and that if you do go, you may face arrest and indeed potential imprisonment. Is that the case? What do you intend to do given that backdrop? Well, yes, so we wanted to go.

12:51We want to do whatever we can, as I said, to try and make a difference. We heard maybe, you know, on one side, we just want to see him. It's been too long since we've spoken to him. So when we floated the idea of going, we were told by, you know, people in the Pakistani government that we would be arrested. and from other people we heard, you know, we had warnings from family members, inside sources, all sorts of people saying similar. So we've still tried to get our visas. We still are looking to go at some point. We've applied for our visas that we haven't had our responses yet. We'll see what happens.

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14:07Piers Morgan:Suleiman, how determined are you guys to try and get your father out of prison? Incredibly determined. Like Karsten said, we're quite private people. We wouldn't normally do this sort of thing. But we've recently been to America to speak to politicians over there to see what we can do, see if they can help support and advocate for his release. Yeah, it's just got to the stage where we're... Yeah, we're doing everything we can to help from abroad. If we can't go over there, if we don't have assurances that we can go over there and see him and make a difference there.

14:51Piers Morgan:Qasim, what's your message for President Trump? because he, probably of all world leaders right now, he might be able to affect real pressure on this situation. Do you have a message for him? Well, yeah. I mean, if anyone can make a difference, he can. We spoke to Richard Grenell, and he was a big advocate of... My father publicly tweeted in favour of our father. We know that Trump has a great relationship with our father. We know and vice versa. They had great conversations when they were both in office. And they seem to have mutual respect for one another. If Trump was able to make a statement or in any way speak to the establishment over there to get our father released, I know he's one of the few people who can.

15:47So, of course, we would love to kind of have a conversation with him or hope for some help from him or support.

15:56Piers Morgan:Obviously, you don't give interviews, you guys, Kasim. You barely do this kind of thing ever. You've always been very private, as you said, and I've always been very respectful of that to you guys. I know your dad, I know your mum very well. For you to come out and do this kind of interview is a big deal for you, isn't it? Is part of the thinking that you will just raise a lot of awareness that people may see this and the pressure may increase in a helpful way? Yes, for sure. We want politicians in the UK and America to speak up about the situation over there, the human rights violations. You know, there are countless human rights violations from the torture tactics they use, turning off the power for 10 days in his cell and all lights in his cell.

16:46That's a genuine torture tactic from the amount of daylight he's able to see. We want these human rights issues to be spoken about by journalists, by politicians, anyone who has a voice to spread awareness about what's going on over there. And it's not just a human rights issue. It's a democratic issue. The people of Pakistan voted for him. He's the most popular candidate in Pakistan. The people, 250 million people in Pakistan, deserve to have their voices heard. So, if anything, we would just say to speak out. Don't be afraid to speak out about this situation and give some support to what's going on over, to his situation and what's going on over there.

17:32Piers Morgan:Suleiman, have you had a chance to talk to the British Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer? No, we haven't. We haven't. But we would love a chance to speak to anyone, any sort of senior figure in the British government. Or David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary? Indirectly, through our mother, who... But no, not directly.

17:59Piers Morgan:I really, like I said, I started this with talking to you about this on a human level. Just as a father of three boys myself, it's a heartbreaking situation that you guys have found yourself in. And I just think it must be an intolerable stress on you. You talked about torture there. Just the idea of your father being stuck in this cell, being tortured as a political prisoner, as many people see him. That must be incredibly stressful. How are you getting on with just regular life with this going on? I mean, it's difficult. You have to disassociate to a certain degree. I, you know, I get on with my work.

18:43I'm busy. I run a company here. So I try and just focus on my day-to-day. But at moments like this, you have to realize that, you know, everyone has a duty in their life. And, you know, we're born into a lot of privilege. We're very lucky. And so one thing we have to do is just focus on this as much as possible right now and try and get him out of this situation. He's done so much for the people of Pakistan. You know, he's built the first cancer hospital in Pakistan. He's built universities there. You know, he won the World Cup in 92. He's... The people of Pakistan adore him, and for, you know, for good reason, and the least we can do as sons is try and speak up about this and try and make some kind of impact.

19:37So even if it is a little bit painful, speaking about it is the very least we can do.

19:45Piers Morgan:And Suleiman, you know, he's been convicted in Pakistan of corruption charges, as has his wife. What is your response to that? Well, I think anyone who knows him knows that he's not a corrupt person. You know, if he was truly corrupt, he's been offered multiple times to join one of the established parties, and he could have just enriched himself that way, as they have. Instead, he chose to start his own party 30 years ago. It took him 20 years to even be taken seriously in politics. And he could have lived a comfortable life, like I've said, off the back of his cricket career. The whole reason that he started his party in the first place was to fight the kind of rampant corruption that Pakistan has suffered from since its inception, really.

20:39So, yeah, he's... I think anyone who knows him, even people within the establishment who are accusing him of this, know that he's not a corrupt person.

20:51Piers Morgan:I interviewed Imran's sister, Alima Khan, in February last year, and she said this... He was shot. There were about two snipers and one person on the ground who shot at this... at his rally. but then there was another attempt when they barely made it out of the judicial complex but they had snipers on the rooftops they were going to shoot them shoot at them that was about to be a second attempt so it's not that it's uh it's two attempts and in jail uh maybe we were worried about his safety in jail like is he safe in jail will they poison him so there's always a concern but I think he's helped all of us come through the past few months and we feel, well, if you're going to die, then it's going to be a big contribution towards a cause.

21:45Piers Morgan:I mean, there she was raising the spectre of somebody potentially poisoning him, Kasim. I mean, the problem is he's kind of defenceless in there, isn't he? He's on his own, he's defenceless. It's a very vulnerable place for him to find himself. Yeah, completely. It's horrible thinking about him in that cell. When you hear the stories about it just getting worse and worse, what really was quite painful to hear was recently hearing about him losing a lot of weight. He's, you know... The heat over there is unbearable, and we know he doesn't have any air conditioning, he doesn't have any fan. And so he's stuck in this small, solitary confinement cell in, you know, blazing heat.

22:28and losing weight is just not a good sign for someone who's in their 70s, who's been shot recently three times. You know, the health risks are massive. So there's so many ways for them to plot some kind of assassination. They have complete control, and it's, yeah, it's extremely distressing.

22:58Piers Morgan:Yeah, I mean, Suleiman, that is what would be really concerning me if I was in your shoes. There's already been assassination attempts on his life. He's got his sister talking about potential poison plots. So none of this is far-fetched. This kind of thing. I remember meeting Benazir Bhuta a few months before she was assassinated. This is part of life, in political life in Pakistan, sadly. You know, what is your message to General Asim Muneer, who's the current leader in Pakistan? What's your message to him about what's happening with your father? I would say respect. Respect democracy, first of all.

23:37Respect the will of the Pakistani people, which was clear despite huge rigging in the general election in February last year. And respect the rule of law and give him a proper, fair trial. Yeah, that would be my message, I think.