A special anti-terrorism Court (ATC) in Faislabad on Thursday, Top Pakistan Tehreek-E-Insaf (PTI) leaders for up to 10 years in prison in cases relating to May 9 protests.
Opposition leader in the National Assembly Omar Ayub, opposition leader in the Senate Shibli Faraz, Zartaj Yellow, MNA SaHibzada Hamid Raza and former MNA Sheikh Rashid Shafiq – Former Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed’s nephew – were among the 108 PTI leaders sentenced by 185. acceded.
About 60 of those convicted, including Shibli Faraz, Omar Ayub, Zartaj Gul and Hamid Raza were sentenced to 10 years in prison each, while other criminal sentences were handed prison terms in three years.
Meanwhile, PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry was acquitted with Zain Qureshi, Khayal Kastro, Faizullah Kamoka, Rana Asad Mehmood Khan, Bilal Ashraf Basra, Haroon Rasheed, Amara Rasheed, SaHibzada Hassan Raza and Kamran Warraich.
Shafiq was absent from the court during the hearing and did not show up. He has allegedly gone into hiding to avoid arrest.
Issued Warrants
Earlier today, ATC issued arrests for 50 PTI leaders in connection with various protest-related cases registered at several police stations in the federal capital ahead of PTI’s 5th August Protest. Warrants was issued by Judge Abul Hasnat Zulqarnain.
PTI -General Salman Salman Akram Raja called for a nationwide protest on August 5 last week and called on the public to support what he called a “historical movement” for national sovereignty rather than just political survival.
Raja condemned what he described as constitutional acts against PTI legislators and a wider crash on the dissent. He specifically criticized the Punjab Assembly’s decision to send references to 26 PTI members to the Election Commission in Pakistan and called the move illegally and politically motivated and claimed that PTI members would continue to raise their votes against this step.
Warrants for 41 PTI managers were issued on Thursday, while arrest warrants for nine others had been issued earlier. Warrants was issued in a case number registered at Karachi Company Police Station.
Prominent names among those facing arrest include former President Arif Alvi, Abdul Qayyum Niazi, Shibli Faraz, Faisal Javed, Salman Akram Raja, Rauf Hassan, Murad Saeed and Ahmad Niazi.
Arrest warrants have also been issued for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, Asad Qaiser, Hammad Azhar, Atif Khan, Shoaib Shaheen, Azam Khan Swati, Omar Ayub and Sahibzada Hamid Raza.
Other PTI members named in Warrants include Aleema Khanum, Sheikh Waqas Akram, Kanwal Shauzab, Shandana Gulzar and Sher Afzal Marwat.
Faizabad Protestry
In the Faizabad Protest Case relating to demonstrations held over former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s disqualification, the court maintained that the status of CM Ali Amin Gandapur as a proclaimed offender remains unchanged.
The court ordered the Islamabad police to arrest Gandapur and said that arrest warrants will remain in force. The court also ordered that if there is any order from Peshawar High Court, it must be observed.
PTI -Leader Faisal Javed Khan and others appeared in court. Following a request from lawyers, the hearing was postponed until August 6. The case against Ali Amin Gandapur and others are registered at the police station in the Industrial Area.
March 18 Protest
In a separate case relating to PTI leader’s protest on March 18, ATC issued arrest orders for PTI MNA from Faisalabad, Ali Afzal Sahi. Judge Tahir Abbas Supra, who also chairmaned this case, noted that “Ali Afzal Sahi has not appeared before this court to date”. Arrest warrant was also issued for other absent PTI workers.
The hearing to the case registered at the Golra police station was postponed until August 9.
November 26 -Protest
Meanwhile, in the case registered by the police police station in the secretariat in connection with protest November 26, the court rejected the court for an accused who repeatedly remained absent. Arrest warrants were issued for those who were not present during the consultation. A forensic report related to the case was submitted and the next consultation was set at August 5.
The consultation of November 26 -Case registered at the Kohsar police station was also postponed until August 4th. Arrest warrant was issued to accused persons who did not appear.
Non-available arrest warrants have been issued for 15 PTI leaders, including ARIF ALVI, Sheikh Waqas Akram, Kanwal Shauzab, Zubair Niazi and Asad Qaiser, in connection with ten cases registered in Rawalpindi related to November 26, the Governments said on Thursday.
By tackling a press conference outside an ATC in Rawalpindi, prosecutor Syed Zaheer Shah said, flanked by district attorney Chaudhry Muhammad, that requests for guarantee cancellation of 68 accused persons have also been filed with separate applications against their guarantees.
Zaheer Shah said that the delay of tactics from the defendants will no longer be tolerated. In the case registered at Sadiqabad Police Station, nine out of 111 nominated individuals have already been convicted.
A total of 31 cases related to protest 26 November have been registered in the Rawal Pindi division – including 20 in Attock, 10 in Rawalpindi and one in Chakwal. Thirteen accused is currently on preliminary bail.
According to the prosecutor, the defendants appear in court once and present outdated medical reports to request postponements. He said investigations in all 31 cases have been completed and after the issuing of non-accessible warrants, the defendant typically ensures protective bail against high courts.
Policeman in taxi
In a case involving the killing of a police officer in Taxila, Imran and Bushra Bibi are among the nominated accused.
ATC has further issued non-accessible arrests in Wah Cantt and Naseerabad Cases for Arif Alvi, Ali Amin Gandapur, Omar Ayub, Asad Qaiser, Hammad Azhar and 20 others.
