A Faisalabad anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Monday sentenced 59 PTI leaders and supporters to 10 years of imprisonment and acquitted 34 others in the case of an attack on former interior minister Rana Sanaullah’s house during the May 9, 2023 riots.
On May 9, 2023, PTI supporters, protesting party founder Imran Khan’s arrest, staged violent protests throughout the country, following which thousands were arrested.
PTI legal team head Malik Khalid Shafiq confirmed the convictions to Dawn.com, adding that 16 individuals were handed three years’ jail time.
PTI parliamentarians convicted in May 9 cases would face automatic disqualification under Article 63(1)(g) of the Constitution, which bars members convicted of crimes involving moral turpitude or corrupt practices.
The deadline given to ATCs to decide various May 9 cases had already passed earlier this month. Therefore, day-to-day hearings were being held in the case, according to Shafiq.
Last week, the Kasur Crime Control Department (CCD) presented former Faisalabad Civil Lines station house officer Zeeshan Khalid Randhawa as a witness during the trial. The former SHO was already under arrest in a separate kidnap and murder case of a Kasur resident.
A joint investigation team probing the case had been summoned by an ATC in July 2024 to submit the charge sheet.
Today’s convictions are the latest in a slew of ATC sentences, wherein over 100 PTI leaders and workers have been handed lengthy jail terms.
On July 31, a Faisalabad ATC had sentenced over 100 PTI leaders and workers to up to 10 years’ imprisonment in connection with the riots. Omar Ayub, Shibli Faraz, Zartaj Gul and Sunni Ittehad Council chief Hamid Raza were among key opposition leaders handed 10 years’ jail time.
In one case, 60 out of 67 accused were convicted, while seven were acquitted. In another case, 107 out of 108 accused were sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment, while one person received a three-year sentence and 77 were acquitted.
More to follow