A Pakistani court on Saturday acquitted former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Khan (also known as Bushra Bibi) of illegal marriage charges, according to their lawyer Naeem Panjuta.
An Islamabad district court “dismissed the charges” against Khan, a spokesman for his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party confirmed.
“The appeals of both Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi are allowed,” Justice Afzal Majoka announced in court.
What does this decision mean for Khan?
An Islamabad court ordered the prison authorities to release Khan immediately if he has no other cases pending against him.
However, Khan is unlikely to be released anytime soon as he is being held on charges of inciting riots: a court revoked his bail this week on charges of inciting his supporters to riot in May 2023.
The former prime minister faces multiple charges in more than 100 cases. His sentences and convictions in other cases have been suspended or overturned by courts.
What is an illegal marriage case?
Khan married his third wife, Bushra Bibi, in 2018. Bibi’s ex-husband had accused the couple of violating Islamic marriage laws, claiming that she had married Khan too soon after his divorce.
They were sentenced to seven years in prison in February.
Khan has been jailed since August last year after being convicted in the days before the February elections in what he claims were orchestrated cases designed to stop him returning to power. All of the convictions have now been at least partially overturned on appeal.
dh/wd (AFP, dpa, Reuters)
