Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Court orders charges against ex Pakistani PM Khan dropped

A Pakistani judge has ordered police to drop terrorism charges against former prime minister Imran Khan for verbally threatening police officers and a female judge at a political rally last month

Via AP news wire
Monday 19 September 2022 09:27 EDT
Pakistan Politics
Pakistan Politics (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

A Pakistani judge Monday ordered police to drop terrorism charges against former prime minister Imran Khan for verbally threatening police officers and a female judge at a political rally last month.

The charges followed a speech Khan gave in the capital Islamabad last month in which he vowed to sue the city of Islamabad police chief and a judge for allowing police to question Shahbaz Gill, who is chief of staff at Khan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf political party.

Khan made the controversial remarks after being told that Gill had been allegedly tortured by police following his arrest on charges of inciting troops to mutiny.

Fawad Chaudhry, a leader at Khan's party, hailed the court order by Athar Minallah, the chief justice at the court in Islamabad.

Khan, a former cricket star turned politician who came to power in 2018, is currently on bail, which shields him from arrest in several cases.

Before the latest court order, Khan faced several years in prison under Pakistan’s 1997 anti-terrorism law, which granted police wider powers amid sectarian violence in the country.

Khan was removed from power in April through a no-confidence vote in parliament. Since then, he has been holding rallies across the country to pressure Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif to agree to snap elections. Sharif has rejected the demand.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in