(clockwise) Dr. Yasmin Rashid, Omar Sarfaraz Cheema, Ejaz Chaudhry, Mian Mahmood-ur-Rasheed, Photo: Files
LAHORE:
An Anti Terrorism Court (ATC) has convicted some important PTI leaders – Dr. Yasmin Rashid, Ejaz Chaudhary, Mahmoodur Rasheed and Omar Sarfraz Cheema – in two more cases of May 9 riots.
ATC Judge Arshad Javed on Saturday revealed his orders in a courtroom at Lahore Kot Lakhpat Jail in relation to the Kalma Chowk and Gulberg cases.
The authorities had registered in light of the acts of vandalism that happened in Lahore in the wake of former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s arrest on May 9, 2023.
In the Gulberg case, the ATC sentenced Dr. Yasmin, Chaudhary Rasheed and Cheema. The accused were charged under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), 1997 for inciting sedition and causing public disturbance during the May 9 incidents.
The court also ordered the arrest and production of 12 declared offenders, including Mian Aslam Iqbal, Murad Saeed, Zubair Niazi, Ali Hassan Nawaz, Shabbir Hussain, Aziz-ur-Rehman, Zarif Khan, Syed Khan, Muhammad Javed, Abdul Samad, Hammad Azharyum and Wasiq Qayyum.
The police had filed a case against 37 accused, of which 24 also stood trial.
During the trial, the prosecution filed charges against 36 defendants. Interestingly, PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qurshi was also among the accused, but the authorities did not file a charge sheet against him.
The trial against Shah will take place in the second phase once the ATC receives his indictment.
ATC found Dr. Yasmin Rashid, Mahmoodur Rasheed, Ejaz Chaudhray and Omar Sarfraz Cheema also guilty in the Gulberg vehicle burning case.
These leaders and three others were also sentenced to 10 years in prison in the case. However, the court acquitted 22 defendants.
A total of 33 accused had been named in the charge sheet, of which four – Shehzad Khurram, Mian Aslam Iqbal, Ali Malik and Shabnam Jahangir – were declared criminals. The court held the trial against 29 defendants.
A day earlier, another ATC in Lahore found Dr. Yasmin Rashid, Omar Sarfraz Cheema, Ejaz Chaudhary and Mahmoodur Rasheed – guilty in the GOR Gate attack case – also a case on May 9 and each sentenced to ten years in prison.
However, the court had acquitted some other PTI leaders and workers, including Shah Mahmood Qureshi, after the prosecution failed to establish the case against them.
ATC judge Manzar Ali Gill ruled that in case they failed to pay the fine, the convicts would have to undergo an additional year of imprisonment.
