Failure to prosecute leads to rejection; PTI leader accused of burning police mobile containers
PTI’s former opposition leader Omar Ayub’s pre-arrest bail pleas in three cases linked to the May 9 riots have been rejected by Lahore’s Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC).
Judge Arshad Javed presided over the hearing and denied all three anticipatory bail for lack of prosecution. The court also rejected Ayub’s request for a day’s exemption to appear in person.
The cases against the former opposition leader involve allegations of burning police vehicles in Gulberg, setting fire to a container at Kalma Chowk and attacking Islamabad police in Zaman Park. All three FIRs relate to incidents registered in the aftermath of the May 9, 2023 riots.
Read: Omar Ayub, Shibli Faraz among 59 convicted by ATC in Rana Sanaullah attack case
In August this year, an ATC in Faisalabad sentenced Ayub, along with 16 other PTI leaders, to 10 years in a May 9 case relating to an attack on PML-N leader Rana Sanaullah’s house. Ayub’s anticipatory bail pleas in three separate cases had also been rejected by Justice Arshad Javed in Lahore. The cases related to alleged attacks on military installations during 9 May.
Non-releasable arrest warrants were then issued for PTI leaders, including the former opposition leader.
Read more: ATC issues arrest warrants for Omar Ayub, Shibli Faraz after May 9 riots
The 9 May 2023 riots erupted following the arrest of PTI founder Imran Khan from the Islamabad High Court premises. The protests resulted in hundreds of PTI workers and leaders being booked in cases related to the unrest.
Several PTI leaders, including Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Shibli Faraz and former federal minister Fawad Chaudhry, have also been charged in connection with the May 9 unrest as cases related to the unrest continue.
