Four PTI leaders sentenced 10 years
The Chronify
Among those sentenced are Yasmin Rashid, Omer Sarfraz Cheema, Mian Mehmoodur Rashid and Ejaz Chaudhry
An anti-terrorism court (ATC) has handed down 10-year prison sentences to several Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders in connection with violence that took place during the May 9, 2023 unrest, according to media reports.
The verdict was announced by ATC Judge Arshad Javed inside Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail. Among those sentenced are Yasmin Rashid, Omer Sarfraz Cheema, Mian Mehmoodur Rashid and Ejaz Chaudhry. The cases were filed by Gulberg and Naseerabad police and relate to incidents involving the torching of vehicles in Gulberg and the burning of a container at Kalma Chowk.
Police submitted separate charge sheets for the two cases. In the Gulberg case, 33 people were named. The court sentenced seven individuals, including Yasmin Rashid, to 10 years in prison, acquitted 22 others, and declared four suspects absconders. In the Kalma Chowk case, out of 36 accused, 24 were convicted and given 10-year sentences, five were acquitted, and seven were declared absconding.
These convictions add to earlier rulings in which Rashid, Cheema, Mahmoodur Rashid and Chaudhry were already sentenced in other cases linked to the May 9 violence. PTI leader Mian Aslam Iqbal was declared an absconder in both proceedings.
The latest sentences come a day after another ATC awarded similar punishments to the same leaders and three others in a separate case related to the riots. In that ruling, however, senior PTI figure and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, along with 13 others, was acquitted.
The May 9 unrest erupted after PTI founder and former prime minister Imran Khan was arrested from the Islamabad High Court premises in a corruption case. Following his arrest, large crowds of PTI supporters attacked public and military property across the country, including the Corps Commander’s residence in Lahore and the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi.
Imran Khan is the only prime minister in Pakistan’s history to have been removed from office through a no-confidence vote.
The verdict was announced by ATC Judge Arshad Javed inside Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail. Among those sentenced are Yasmin Rashid, Omer Sarfraz Cheema, Mian Mehmoodur Rashid and Ejaz Chaudhry. The cases were filed by Gulberg and Naseerabad police and relate to incidents involving the torching of vehicles in Gulberg and the burning of a container at Kalma Chowk.
Police submitted separate charge sheets for the two cases. In the Gulberg case, 33 people were named. The court sentenced seven individuals, including Yasmin Rashid, to 10 years in prison, acquitted 22 others, and declared four suspects absconders. In the Kalma Chowk case, out of 36 accused, 24 were convicted and given 10-year sentences, five were acquitted, and seven were declared absconding.
These convictions add to earlier rulings in which Rashid, Cheema, Mahmoodur Rashid and Chaudhry were already sentenced in other cases linked to the May 9 violence. PTI leader Mian Aslam Iqbal was declared an absconder in both proceedings.
The latest sentences come a day after another ATC awarded similar punishments to the same leaders and three others in a separate case related to the riots. In that ruling, however, senior PTI figure and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, along with 13 others, was acquitted.
The May 9 unrest erupted after PTI founder and former prime minister Imran Khan was arrested from the Islamabad High Court premises in a corruption case. Following his arrest, large crowds of PTI supporters attacked public and military property across the country, including the Corps Commander’s residence in Lahore and the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi.
Imran Khan is the only prime minister in Pakistan’s history to have been removed from office through a no-confidence vote.
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