Pakistan's Imran Khan acquitted of leaking state secrets

5 months ago 18

A Pakistani high court on Monday overturned a conviction of treason against jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan, his lawyer and party said.

The former leader and his former foreign secretary, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, were convicted in 2022 of making public a classified cable sent to Islamabad by Pakistan's ambassador in Washington.

"This is the first big case which was part of the political victimization against Imran Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi which has been dashed to the ground," Salman Safdar, a lawyer for Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, told the AFP news agency outside of court.

Khan had alleged that the document was evidence that the US was conspiring to force him from power in 2022, when he lost a confidence vote in parliament.

He then claimed that the case, along with two other convictions in the run-up to the February election, was part of a political plot to prevent him from returning to power.

Why is Imran Khan in jail?

Khan is serving a seven-year sentence for marrying his wife, Bushra Bibi, too soon after her divorce, contravening Islamic traditions.

He was also found guilty and sentenced to 14 years in prison for alleged corruption during his time as prime minister between 2018 and 2022, although his sentence was suspended in April.

Despite his legal woes, the 71-year-old former cricket star-turned-politician maintains popularity in Pakistan. Candidates loyal to his PTI party secured more seats than any other party in the February election, despite having to run as independents with the party itself excluded.