Pakistan’s Imran Khan and his wife acquitted in unlawful marriage case
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The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party said the authorities have issued fresh arrest warrants for Imran Khan.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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ISLAMABAD - Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan and his third wife, Bushra Khan, were acquitted on charges of marrying unlawfully by a Pakistan court on July 13, yet he will not be freed after the authorities issued fresh orders to arrest him.
The ruling came a day after his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party won more seats in Parliament, ramping up pressure on the country’s fragile ruling coalition, which is grappling to stabilise a broken economy.
The couple were sentenced to seven years in prison in February
They had filed an appeal against their convictions.
“Both the appellants are acquitted of the charges,” said an order by the appeal court seen by Reuters.
“They are directed to be released forthwith if not required to be detained in any other case.”
It said the prosecution failed to prove its case against the couple.
Khan’s PTI party said the authorities have issued fresh arrest warrants for him in three cases linked to violence against the military and other state installations that erupted following his brief arrest in May 2023.
An anti-terrorism court last week cancelled his bail in one of the May 9 cases registered against him and thousands of his supporters.
The party called it a “gimmick” aimed at prolonging his imprisonment.
Bushra is on bail in a land corruption case in which she is also co-accused with Khan, who is a free person after the latest acquittal, the party added.
All four jail sentences Khan received ahead of a February national election have now been overturned or suspended.
Jailed since August 2023, he was acquitted in June of charges of leaking state secrets. Two other corruption sentences have been suspended.
The PTI has warned that keeping Khan in jail despite the decision on July 13 will deepen a political crisis that has crippled the country of 240 million people since he was ousted in a Parliament vote of confidence in 2022.
Khan blames his ouster on the country’s powerful military generals. No prime minister of Pakistan has completed a full five-year constitutional term since the country gained its independence in 1947. REUTERS
