Pakistan’s former prime minister, who was arrested last year after being pushed from power, says he is filmed around the clock with no space to move.

Pakistan’s jailed former prime minister Imran Khan has said he is being caged like a terrorist, in a rare interview from behind bars.

“I am confined in a 7ft by 8ft death cell, typically reserved for terrorists to ensure they have no contact with anyone,” he told The Sunday Times. “It is solitary confinement with barely any space to move. I am under constant surveillance by the agencies, being recorded 24/7, and I am denied basic prisoner and human rights such as visitation,” he said.

The former cricket star, 71, has been in a maximum-security prison for almost a year, convicted on three charges — corruption for allegedly selling state gifts; treason for leaking state documents; and illegal and un-Islamic marriage.

His third wife, Bushra, is also in jail. His first wife was Jemima Goldsmith, with whom he has two sons.

The interview was conducted via Khan’s lawyers because he is not allowed pencil and paper.

This month a UN working group on human rights declared his incarceration arbitrary and in violation of international law, demanding his immediate release.

Recent judgments in Pakistan have ruled in his favour. In June, the so-called Cipher Case — for leaking state secrets — was overturned, as was, on July 13, his convictions for illegal marriage and for selling state gifts such as jewellery from the Saudi crown prince.

Khan was, however, denied bail by a Lahore court over accusations that he had incited his supporters to riot in May last year after being pushed from power. Protesters stormed the home of the local army commander and stole white peacocks from his garden.

The government is threatening to ban his party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which won more seats than any other in elections in February. This is despite what Khan has called “unprecedented pre-poll rigging”, including his imprisonment along with that of many of his key lieutenants and the banning of his party symbol, the cricket bat.

“The election results and the voter turnout were nothing short of a soft revolution that took place under a martial law environment,” he said. “People voted for me because they are fed up with the current system and how Pakistan is being run.”

Khan was not allowed to form a government after other parties formed an alliance against him, encouraged by the powerful military. But a Supreme Court ruling last week awarded him more seats and he insists his party “secured a significant majority of approximately 175 seats, not the 93 that were officially acknowledged after being usurped”.

Last Monday Attaullah Tarar, the information minister, declared that the government would bring proceedings in the Supreme Court to ban the PTI permanently. “We are going to impose a ban on PTI and we believe that article 17 of the constitution gives the government the right to ban political parties, and the matter will be referred to the Supreme Court,” he told journalists.

Although Pakistan has spent many years under military rule, no party has been banned, and the US State Department expressed its apprehension. “Banning a political party would be of great concern to us,” a spokesman said.

Khan said: “These games are being played to break me and my party, but by the grace of the Almighty, nothing has or will succeed.”

Zulfikar Bukhari, a friend and adviser to Khan, said the threats to ban the party were a sign of panic. “The establishment is panicking — this was a kneejerk reaction to our back to back victories in court.

“Every day Imran is in prison under their fascist politics he becomes more popular,” he added. “He’s more popular now than in the last 30 years in politics.”

Bukhari is himself in exile, as are many other PTI party members. On Tuesday he will speak in the House of Lords on the erosion of democracy in Pakistan. The session was arranged by Lord Hannan of Kingsclere and Naz Shah, the MP for Bradford West.

They will discuss the opinion issued this month by the UN working group on arbitrary detention, which called for his immediate release with compensation. It was the strongest opinion the UN has offered, said the lawyer Sarah Gogan of Harbottle & Lewis, which represented Khan in petitioning the UN.

Khan said: “This decision echoes what we have been saying for over a year. As an aside, I was the first to advocate for third umpires in cricket because I always believed it would make the game fairer. With this independent opinion, it’s no longer about taking my word for it, nor my party’s word or the government’s.

“Anyone can read the entire report and see for themselves the injustices that have occurred, and what is ultimately damaging the country and hurting its people. I urge other country leaders and human rights organisations to read the UN decision and act.”

Bukhari said the decision had buoyed Khan, whom he described as being in good spirits despite the conditions in which he is being held. “His spirits are very high — he flourishes in adversity,” he said.

Khan is keeping his morale high by keeping fit whenever possible. “I engage in whatever physical exercises I can and read extensively,” he said.

He insists he will be back. “I spend most of my time planning for the future,” he said. “Despite being caged, the entire country looks to me for hope and resilience. Most importantly, my prayers keep me steadfast, my belief in God assures me that justice will prevail over tyranny.”