A Pakistani court has quashed the convictions and seven-year prison sentences of former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife, but they were immediately rearrested on charges of rioting and corruption.
The acquittal in a case over the legality of the couple’s marriage in 2018 appeared to have removed the last hurdle to Khan’s release, nearly a year after he was jailed. His followers gathered outside the prison where he was being held in the garrison city of Rawalpindi to welcome him upon his release.
But shortly after the court ruling, Khan was arrested again, in connection with last year’s riots, his party said.
It was also said that Khan’s wife, Bushra Bibi, was suspected of being rearrested in a long-running corruption case.
A Pakistani court has quashed the convictions and seven-year prison sentences of former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife, but they were immediately rearrested on charges of rioting and corruption.
Pakistan’s former prime minister and his wife Bushra Bibi (pictured together in 2023) were sentenced to seven years in prison after a court ruled they violated the law that requires a woman to wait three months before remarrying.
The acquittal in a case regarding the legality of the couple’s marriage in 2018 appeared to have cleared the final hurdle on the road to Khan’s release, nearly a year after he was jailed, prompting his supporters to rally
Since 2022, when Khan was ousted by a vote of no confidence in parliament, authorities have filed multiple cases against him.
Since his arrest in May 2023, Khan has been involved in more than 150 legal cases, including cases involving incitement to violence.
Earlier this month, the United Nations Working Group on Human Rights called for Khan’s immediate release, saying he had been held “arbitrarily and in violation of international law.”
Saturday’s acquittal concerns Khan’s marriage to Bibi, his third wife.
She was previously married to a man who claimed they divorced in November 2017, less than three months before she married Khan.
Under Islamic law as it applies in Pakistan, there is a three-month waiting period before a new marriage can be entered into.
Bibi said they divorced in August 2017 and the couple maintained during the trial that they had not exceeded the waiting period.
Supporters of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, founder of the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), celebrate after a court overturned Khan’s conviction for an illegal marriage
Earlier this month, the UN Working Group on Human Rights called for Khan’s immediate release, saying he had been detained “arbitrarily and in violation of international law.”
After Khan’s arrest in May 2023, his supporters attacked military and government buildings in several parts of the country and set fire to a building housing the state radio Pakistan.
After Khan’s arrest in May 2023, his supporters attacked military and government buildings in several parts of the country and set fire to a building housing the state-run Radio Pakistan.
The violence only subsided after Khan was released by the Supreme Court. However, in early August 2023, he was arrested again after a court sentenced him to three years in prison for corruption.
Khan has been acquitted in several cases related to last year’s violence in recent months, but this week his bail was revoked in connection with a similar case against him in the eastern city of Lahore.
Khan’s party has indicated that they plan to approach higher courts to get bail for him.
Bibi was reportedly the first Pakistani First Lady to wear a Niqab
Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi arrive to appear at a high court in Lahore on May 15, 2023. Since then, Khan has been embroiled in more than 150 cases, including incitement to violence.
The latest development comes a day after Pakistan’s Supreme Court ruled that Khan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf party was wrongly denied at least 20 seats in parliament, a major blow to the country’s fragile ruling coalition.
Khan’s Pakistani party was previously excluded from a system that gives parties extra seats reserved for women and minorities in the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament.
While the ruling was a major political victory for Khan, it would not allow his party to topple the government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who came to power in February 8 elections that Khan’s allies say were rigged.