Maryam Nawaz, a vice president of the PML-N, has expressed grave concern that her father, ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif, is being "held captive in the hands of his enemies who are toying with his life".

During a press conference held on Wednesday in Model Town, Lahore, the PML-N leader said that in her meeting with her father on Thursday, July 18, the jail doctor brought with him a report "which he showed great hesitation in presenting".

Maryam claimed that the report revealed that his blood sugar had consistently been on the high side and it had been recommended that he be immediately hospitalised "at a medical facility of his choice".

She said that when her father asked why a report which was dated July 3 was being shown to him two weeks later, the doctor had nothing to say.

Maryam said that she had then inquired as to why she, as a family member, "was not informed that he has angina, his blood pressure is high, his blood sugar is on the rise, and his kidneys are deteriorating".

"It was my right to know. You may not have informed him. He can not do anything as it is since he is incarcerated, but you should have at least informed me, his daughter, or his brother."

"You were sitting on this report. This is criminal negligence; you informed no one," claimed Maryam.

She further recounted how, when a copy of the medical report was requested, the jail staff said that the "photocopy machine was out of order". When Nawaz Sharif suggested that the family doctor accompany one of the jail staff to the nearby market and get them photocopied from there and retain a copy with himself, the jail staff assured him, 'Don't worry sir. You will get it.'"

She said that when they took her father away and she went to the incharge's office to ask for a copy, he said he would have it sent to her residence and to date she has not received one from them. It was a "sympathiser from the Punjab government" who ultimately sent her the copy, she said.

Maryam went on to say that she had written to the Inspector General of prisons as had Nawaz Sharif's personal physician Dr Adnan Khan stating that a copy of the report had not been provided. She said "no one had even thought it appropriate to furnish a reply".

She claimed that the family had not been informed about a medical board constituted for emergencies by the Punjab government and lamented that a "three-time prime minister was being meted out such treatment".

She also said that hospitalisation and further tests had been "re-emphasised" by doctors.

Moving on to Prime Minister Imran Khan's visit to the United States, she remarked on how his "pettiness" had been demonstrated when he addressed overseas Pakistanis and made constant references to the opposition.

"Instead of talking about national and international issues in America, there were threats being issued that 'I will put a stop to his food, I will take away his airconditioning'."

"So how I can expect a person like this to guarantee that Mian sahab's food will be prepared in the jail premises and will be supervised? Who will supervise it and how beneficial it will be for his health, you yourself can assess."

She said she wanted to "present these facts to the nation, given the new (video) evidence that has surfaced in support of his case".

She demanded answers for where the case stands and what is to become of the verdict now that judge Arshad Malik has been removed.

"After the action taken against the judge, justice warrants that the verdict be revoked because he himself has stated that he was blackmailed into issuing it," said Maryam.

"Is a three-time prime minister deserving of such treatment? Is it not his constitutional and legal right to be informed regarding his health? That he be told that he has been recommended hospitalisation and what threatens his health?"

"I will not hesitate to say that this (the report) is evidence which supports this fact: The hands that Mian sahib is in — whether it is the Punjab government or the selected government of the selected prime minister — Mian sahib right now is in the hands of his enemies, who are not only playing with his life, his health, but I smell something very sinister and something very dangerous from all this."

"I am consulting my legal team and will try my best to take this to a court of law. I have no other way. Through you (the media), I want 220 million people to stand witness and I want them to know all this."

"He is not getting food from home. I don't know what they are giving him to eat.

"I cannot expect such sympathy from them that they would decide not to hospitalise him despite instructions from his doctors, but would then ensure he is getting the kind of food he has been recommended to have."

The PML-N leader, when asked, also affirmed that she would try to approach and involve international organisations and seek their assistance as well in view of the "irrefutable evidence" that had been brought forward.