Imran Khan, other party leaders acquitted in ECP protest case

Islamabad [Pakistan], July 3 : A district and sessions court in the federal capital of Pakistan on Wednesday acquitted Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and several other leaders in a case registered at Aapbara Police Station for protesting against the Election Commission of Pakistan's Toshakhana verdict in 2022, which disqualified him from holding office for a limited time, Pakistan-based News Agency reported.
Judicial Magistrate Yasir Mehmood announced the verdict, which was reserved last week on the petitions seeking acquittal, during the hearing. Other leaders who are let off in the case are Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Sheikh Rasheed, Asad Qaiser, Shehryar Afridi, Faisal Javed, Raja Khurram Nawaz and Ali Nawaz Awan.
PTI lawyers, Advocate Sardar Masroof and Advocate Ansar Kayani made the arguments in the case on behalf of the former Prime Minister and others.
Imran Khan has been facing a slew of charges ranging from corruption to terrorism since his removal as the premier in 2022, Geo News reported.
The PTI founder has been in jail since last August and was convicted in some cases ahead of a nationwide election earlier this year. He is also fighting dozens of other cases.
The only hurdle keeping him behind bars is the iddat or the un-Islamic marriage case, whose proceedings are underway, and the judge expects the case to be wrapped up within this month, Geo News reported.
On June 27, a district and sessions court in Islamabad declined the pleas of Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi to suspend their seven-year sentences in the Iddat Case.
The verdict, met with protests in Islamabad by activists and criticism in Karachi by demonstrators who were against the state's intrusion into people's lives".
On Wednesday, Pakistan's anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi asked the government and jail administration to respond to Imran Khan's request to meet his sons, Qasim and Sulaiman in Adiala Jail.