Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has been acquitted of leaking state secrets and techniques however will stay in jail due to a conviction in one other case.
Within the run-up to elections in February, the 71-year-old – who was ousted as prime minister in 2022 – was hit with three jail sentences for instances he insists have been politically motivated.
Khan was sentenced to 10 years in prison in January on prices of constructing public a diplomatic cable in 2022.
The Islamabad Excessive Court docket upheld his attraction and cleared him in that case on Monday, however he’s not anticipated to go away jail for now.
The previous cricket star and his third spouse Bushra are each serving jail sentences after a court docket dominated that their 2018 marriage had been un-Islamic and illegal because it got here too quickly after her divorce.
The couple have been additionally discovered responsible of corruption over presents obtained throughout his time period as prime minister.
Even behind bars, the previous cricket star stays a strong drive in Pakistani politics.
Through the February elections, his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) social gathering, which had been pressured to run candidates as independents, emerged as the one largest bloc.
Nevertheless, they fell in need of the bulk and their rivals united to form a new government.
Within the so-called “cipher case”, the prosecution argued that Khan had leaked a labeled cable despatched to Pakistan’s ambassador in Washington.
At a rally in March 2022, the then prime minister appeared on stage waving a bit of paper that he mentioned confirmed a international conspiracy in opposition to him.
He did not title the nation – however was subsequently extremely crucial of the US. Washington and Pakistani officers denied the declare.
Prosecutors mentioned Khan’s actions amounted to leaking a labeled doc and damaging diplomatic relations.
Khan’s international minister, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, was additionally sentenced to 10 years in jail.
Each males have been acquitted of the costs on Monday.
“Thank God, the sentence is overturned,” PTI spokesman Naeem Panjutha, mentioned in a put up on the social media platform X, previously often called Twitter.
