Attorney Claims Jussie Smollett Was Victim of 'Vindictive Persecution' After Conviction Is Overturned (Exclusive)

The Supreme Court of Illinois overturned Jussie Smollett's conviction on Thursday, Nov. 21

The attorney for actor Jussie Smollett has spoken out after his 2021 convictions for allegedly staging a hate crime were overturned by the Illinois Supreme Court this week.

Smollett was convicted of five counts of disorderly conduct, each count representing an instance of reporting a false claim, for allegedly planning an elaborate fake hate-crime on himself in 2019, where two men reportedly attacked him with bleach, called him racial and homophobic slurs and put a noose around his neck.

The Supreme Court of Illinois ruled on Thursday, Nov. 21, that the charges filed against Smollett by a special prosecutor after the Cook County State's Attorney dropped the charges represented a violation of his rights.

In response, Smollett's attorney Nenye Uche said in an exclusive statement to PEOPLE that he's “pleased” with the ruling.

“This was not a prosecution based on facts, rather it was a vindictive persecution and such a proceeding has no place in our criminal justice system,” Uche said. The statement added that the “rule of law was the big winner.”

Dan K. Webb, the special prosecutor who was appointed Smollett’s case in 2019, said in a statement that he “respectfully disagree[s]” with Thursday’s ruling.

“Make no mistake—today’s ruling has nothing to do with Mr. Smollett’s innocence,” Webb said in a statement shared with PEOPLE.

The Illinois Supreme Court did not find any “error with the overwhelming evidence” presented at trial that led to his guilty verdict, Webb said.

“In fact, Mr. Smollett did not even challenge the sufficiency of the evidence against him in his appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court,” the special prosecutor added.

Related: Empire Star Jussie Smollett Has Been Cleared: Everything We Know About His Alleged Hate Crime

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The Empire actor has maintained his innocence, and addressed the incident in an interview with PEOPLE in September.

"I was numb," Smollett told PEOPLE. "I didn't know how to connect the dots. I really genuinely did not know. I couldn't make sense of what was going on, and I couldn't make sense of what people were actually thinking ... what exactly do they think happened? I couldn't put two and two together."