Former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his third wife were acquitted on charges of unlawful marriage by a Pakistan court on Saturday, but Khan will remain in jail due to fresh arrest orders issued by authorities.
The acquittal follows a significant victory for Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, which won more seats in parliament, increasing pressure on the country’s fragile ruling coalition struggling with economic instability.
Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, were initially sentenced to seven years in February for violating Islamic law by not observing the required interval between Bibi’s divorce from her previous marriage and her subsequent marriage to Khan. The couple had appealed their convictions.
“Both the appellants are acquitted of the charges,” stated an order by the appeal court, as seen by Reuters. “They are directed to be released forthwith if not required to be detained in any other case.” The court noted that the prosecution had failed to prove its case.
Despite the acquittal, authorities have issued new arrest warrants for Khan in three cases related to violence against the military and other state installations following his brief arrest in May 2023. Last week, an anti-terrorism court canceled his bail in one of these cases, linked to the violent protests by his supporters on May 9.
The PTI party denounced the new arrest warrants as a “gimmick” aimed at prolonging Khan’s imprisonment. Bushra Bibi remains on bail in a separate land corruption case in which she is co-accused with Khan.
All four jail sentences Khan received ahead of the February national election have now been overturned or suspended. He was acquitted last month of charges of leaking state secrets, and two other corruption sentences have been suspended.
Khan, who has been in jail since last August, continues to face legal challenges. The PTI has warned that keeping him in jail despite Saturday’s acquittal will deepen the political crisis that has plagued Pakistan since his ouster in a parliamentary vote of confidence in 2022. Khan attributes his removal from power to the country’s powerful military generals. Notably, no prime minister of Pakistan has completed a full five-year constitutional term since the country gained independence in 1947.
