Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi were condemned for marrying too soon after her divorce (File)
Islamabad:
A Pakistani court on Saturday quashed ex-Prime Minister Imran Khan’s conviction on illegal marriage charges, although he remains in jail on charges of inciting riots.
Khan faced three convictions in the days before the February elections; things he said were orchestrated to prevent his return to power.
Those cases have now all been at least partially overturned on appeal, with a treason conviction carrying a 10-year prison sentence overturned in April and a 14-year prison sentence suspended in June, although the sentence still stands.
Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi were also sentenced to seven years for allegedly marrying too soon after her divorce, in violation of Islamic law.
But Judge Afzal Majoka of the Islamabad Additional District and Sessions Court announced in court that “the appeals of both Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi have been accepted.”
A spokesman for Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party said the charges had been “rejected”.
However, Khan remains in custody after a court this week revoked his bail over allegations that he incited riots by his supporters in May 2023.
Controversy over courting
Earlier this month, a UN panel of experts ruled that Khan’s detention had “no legal basis and appeared to be intended to disqualify him from running for political office.”
“From the outset, that prosecution was therefore not based on law and was allegedly instrumentalized for a political purpose,” said the report, which called for his immediate release after nearly a year in prison.
Candidates loyal to Khan won the most seats in national elections, but were excluded from government by an alliance of military-backed rival parties.
Khan was prime minister from 2018 to 2022, when he was ousted in a no-confidence vote after falling out with the military establishment, which wields enormous influence over civilian politics.
In opposition, he waged a campaign of resistance against the top generals who directly ruled Pakistan for decades, even accusing them of an assassination attempt that left him injured.
But the former cricket star’s comeback campaign has been hampered by dozens of lawsuits, which analysts say were likely filed at the behest of the military establishment.
Khan was first briefly arrested in May 2023, sparking nationwide unrest among PTI supporters, some of whom targeted military facilities.
The government and military cited the attacks as justification for a sweeping crackdown on PTI, with its senior leadership decimated by arrests and defections.
An anti-terrorism court in the eastern city of Lahore on Tuesday refused to release him on bail while police investigate his alleged role in the unrest, despite the fact he was behind bars at the time.
Surviving the crackdown
PTI candidates were forced to stand independently in the February 8 elections, which were repeatedly postponed due to political chaos.
Khan’s arrest and conviction for corruption in August 2023 meant he was barred from standing as a candidate and was locked up in a cell in the Adiala prison south of the capital Islamabad.
Despite this, candidates loyal to PTI won more seats than any other party.
Nevertheless, they were blocked from power by a broad coalition of parties seen as more pliable to the military’s influence.
Election day itself was marred by allegations of vote tampering during a nationwide mobile internet blackout. Islamabad said it had orchestrated the security.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
