Imran Khan acquitted in state secrets case.
Imran Khan, the former prime minister of Pakistan, was found
not guilty of disclosing state secrets, but he will stay behind bars due to a
conviction in a different case.
The 71-year-old, who lost his position as prime minister in
2022, received three prison sentences in the run-up to the February elections
for incidents he maintains were motivated by politics.
Khan was found guilty in January of disclosing a diplomatic cable in 2022 and received a 10-year sentence.
The Islamabad High Court cleared him in that case on Monday, but he is not expected to be released from prison just
yet.
After a judge determined that the former cricket player's
2018 marriage to Bushra, his third wife, was unlawful and un-Islamic since it
took place too soon after her divorce, the couple are currently serving prison
terms.
In addition, the couple was found guilty of wrongdoing regarding gifts they received when he served as prime minister.
While incarcerated, the former cricket star is still a significant figure in
Pakistani politics.
His Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, compelled to field independent candidates, won the most votes overall in the
February elections.
However, they failed to secure a majority, and their
opponents banded together to establish a new administration.
In the infamous "cipher case," the prosecution contended that Khan had disclosed a top-secret cable addressed to
Pakistan's envoy in Washington.
The then-prime minister took the stage at a rally in March
2022 and waved a piece of paper that he claimed revealed a foreign plot against
him.
He didn't mention the nation, but he rebuked the US. Officials from Pakistan and Washington refuted the assertion.
According to the prosecution, Khan's conduct harmed diplomatic relations and disclosed confidential material.
Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Khan's foreign minister, also received
a 10-year prison term.
On Monday, the two men were found not guilty of the
accusations.
"Thank God, the sentence is overturned," Naeem
Panjutha, a spokesman for the PTI, wrote on the social media site X, formerly
known as Twitter.
