Pakistani court drops contempt charges against former prime minister Imran Jan

A Pakistani court on Monday dropped contempt charges against former Prime Minister Imran Jan following insulting remarks about Judge Zeba Chaudhri during a protest called by his party, Pakistan Tehrik-Insaf (PTI).

According to information gathered by the Islamabad High Court, the verdict has been adopted unanimously after considering that Jan “showed honesty by apologizing to the judge”, after which the former prime minister has applauded the “great decision”.

Jan apologized for his statements during a hearing held on September 22 and promised not to make similar statements again, after publicly threatening Chaudhri during a protest against the Central Asian country’s authorities.

The decision comes less than a month after the same court ordered to drop terrorism charges against Jan in connection with his statements during that protest, in which he criticized the justice apparatus for maintaining an allegedly “biased” attitude towards his party and stressed that they would have to face “consequences.”

He also hinted that the Police were obeying “orders from above” in their alleged torture of his top aide, Shahbaz Gill, who he has even claimed was sexually abused in custody in a case of alleged sedition. “Every time we have asked them they told us that they were not to blame for anything, that they were kicked in the ass to follow orders,” he said.

During his speech, the former prime minister also reiterated that he had been the victim of an international conspiracy, with the connivance of the security forces, which led to the censure motion that cost him office in April, after the Supreme Court reversed its decision to dissolve Parliament and call elections in an attempt to prevent the vote from taking place.

Pakistan’s current prime minister, Shebhaz Sharif, is going through a serious political crisis triggered by the censure motion of his predecessor, Jan, as well as a moment of uncertainty due to the lack of liquidity, so he has to convince the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to release funds and tackle the economic situation of the former British colony.