FORMER Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi had their convictions overturned by a court on Saturday.

But officials quickly acted to prevent the couple’s release from prison.

The acquittal, in a case relating to the legality of their 2018 marriage, seemed to have removed the last hurdle in the way of Mr Khan being freed afer nearly a year in jail.

His followers had started gathering near the prison in the garrison city of Rawalpindi where he was being held to greet him on his release.

But shortly after the court’s ruling, Mr Khan was arrested yet again, in connection with riots last year, his party said. It added that it believed Ms Bibi was also being arrested again in a lingering corruption case.

Authorities have registered more than 150 legal cases against Mr Khan since 2022, when he was ousted from power. 

Earlier this month, the United Nations human rights working group called for his immediate release, saying that he had been detained “arbitrarily in violation of international laws.”

Allegations that Mr Khan’s marriage to Ms Bibi was unlawful stem from her previous husband having claimed that they had divorced in November 2017, less than three months before she married Mr Khan. Islamic law requires a three-month waiting period before a person can remarry.

Ms Bibi had said that they divorced in August 2017 and the couple insisted during the trial that they had not violated the waiting period.

Following Mr Khan’s arrest in May 2023, his supporters attacked military and government buildings across the country.

The violence subsided only when he was released by the Supreme Court. However, he was again arrested in early August 2023 after a court gave him a three-year jail sentence for corruption.

Mr Khan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf party said it plans to apply to higher courts to have him freed on bail.