ISLAMABAD — A Pakistani court on Saturday overturned the convictions and seven-year sentences of former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife, but officials quickly moved to prevent his release from prison.
The acquittal in a case relating to the legality of the couple's 2018 marriage seemed to have removed the last hurdle in the way of Khan's release, nearly a year after he was jailed, and his followers had started gathering near the prison where he was being held in the garrison city of Rawalpindi to greet him on his release.
But shortly after the court's ruling, Khan was arrested yet again, in connection to riots last year, his party said. It added that it believed Khan's wife, Bushra Bibi, was also being arrested again, in a lingering corruption case.
Authorities have registered multiple cases against Khan since 2022 when he was ousted from power through a vote of no-confidence in the parliament. Khan has been embroiled in more than 150 legal cases, including inciting violence, since his initial arrest in May 2023.
Earlier this month, the United Nations human rights working group called for Khan's immediate release, saying he had been detained ''arbitrarily in violation of international laws."
Saturday's acquittal relates to Khan's marriage to Bibi, his third wife. She was previously married to a man who claimed that they divorced in November 2017, less than three months before she married Khan. Islamic law, as upheld by Pakistan, requires a three-month waiting period before a new marriage.
Bibi had said they divorced in August 2017 and the couple insisted during the trial that they did not violate the waiting period.
Following Khan's arrest in May 2023, Khan's supporters attacked military and government buildings in various parts of the country and torched a building housing state-run Radio Pakistan.
