By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: An Islamabad court on Saturday acquitted former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi in a case related to their unlawful marriage, but the couple remains in jail as they face new charges.
Khan, who has been embroiled in a series of legal battles since his ouster as prime minister in 2022, was found not guilty by an Islamabad district and sessions court in the “Iddat case”, which centered on his marriage to Bushra Bibi in 2018.
“Appeals filed by the appellants Imran Ahmad Khan Niazi and Bushra Imran Khan have been accepted and appellants have been acquitted of the charge,” the court order said.
The couple had been sentenced to seven years in prison in February for breaking Islamic law by failing to observe the required interval between Bibi’s divorce from a previous marriage and her marriage to Khan.
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB), however, swiftly arrested Khan and Bibi on fresh charges related to the Toshakhana, or state treasury, just hours after their acquittal.
NAB Deputy Director Mohsin Haroon confirmed that Khan and Bibi were arrested in a fresh Toshakhana case. “They have been arrested in a new Toshakhana case,” he said.
The acquittal on Saturday was seen as another legal victory for Khan, who has been embroiled in a series of court cases, ranging from corruption to terrorism.
Khan’s sentences in two other Toshakhana cases were suspended, and he was acquitted by the Islamabad High Court in the cipher case.
He had been given a 10-year prison sentence on charges of making public a classified cable sent to Islamabad by Pakistan’s ambassador in Washington in 2022, in what is commonly known as the cipher case.
Khan has said the cable was evidence of a conspiracy by the Pakistan military and U.S. government to topple his government in 2022 after he visited Moscow just before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Washington and Pakistan’s military deny his accusation.
Khan was given jail sentences – one of 14 years and the other three years – in two cases pertaining to illegally acquiring and selling state gifts. Both sentences have been suspended by high courts while his appeals are heard.
Khan and his wife are charged with selling gifts worth more than Rs140 million in state possession, which he received during his 2018-2022 premiership. The gifts included diamond jewellery and seven watches, six of them Rolexes – the most expensive being valued at Rs85 million.
Despite the acquittal, Khan remains in jail as he faces trial on anti-terrorism charges related to violence against the military and state installations in May 2023 — the day when his first arrest had caused riots across the country, following which the state launched a crackdown against him and his party.
Khan was convicted in four cases ahead of a February national election and has been in jail since August last year.
His party said on Saturday authorities have issued fresh arrest warrants for Khan in three different cases linked to the May 9 violence.
The PTI described the new cases as “another gimmick” to prolong Khan’s imprisonment, saying all charges against him in May 9 cases were based on testimony by police officials.
“NAB should be ashamed of themselves for completely destroying their credibility, and for carrying out illegal activities,” the PTI said in a social media post.
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