Islamabad:
An anti -terrorism court (ATC) in Islamabad convicted on Friday and sentenced to 11 accused of several prison terms and fines in cases related to violence on May 9, 2023, for charges of attacking the Ramna Police Station, attacking the police, burning the properties and disseminating terrorism.
The convicted men include the member of the National Assembly Abdul Latif of Pakistan Tehreek-E-Insaf (PTI) and former member of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly (MPA) Wazirzada Kailashi.
After the verdict, four convicted were arrested from the court facilities, while arrest orders were issued against another seven.
The four convicts arrested were Muhammad Akram, Look Khan, Shahzeb and Sohail Khan. Arrest orders against Abdul Latif, Wazirzada Kailashi, Zryab Khan, Samuel Robert, Abdul Basit, Shan Ali and Muhammad Yousuf.
ATC Tahir Abbas Sipra judge issued the verdict, stating that the defendant attacked the Ramna Police Station and opened fire, threw stones and tried to kill the police. The defendant also set the motorcycles fire.
The court said the defendant was sentenced to 10 years in prison and a fine of RS200,000 each for terrorism; five years in prison and a fine of RS50,000 each for trying to kill police officers; Four years in prison and a fine of RS40,000 each to burn motorcycles.
Another four -year prison mandate and a fine of RS40,000 each were granted for burning the police station; three months in prison to interfere with police work; and a month in prison for violating section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CRPC).
The cases of May 9 refer to violent attacks in state facilities in 2023 after the arrest of the founder of PTI Imran Khan for corruption charges. Several people were arrested in these cases, who were tried and convicted by military courts, as well as ATC in different cities.
Meanwhile, the ATCs throughout the country have been listening to more cases. In April, a bank of three members of the Supreme Court, led by the president of the Supreme Court Yahya Afridi, ordered the ATCs to decide on the cases of May 9 within four months.
Of these, 14 cases of the Lahore district were pending in two ATCs in the capital of Punjab, which are heard in the central prison of Kot Lakhpat daily. However, an ATC judge said that the lack of availability of cases of cases was to create obstacles to the court to comply with the deadline of the Supreme Court.
The Administrative Judge of ATC, Manzer Ali Gill, wrote to the attorney general of Punjab, Syed Farhad Ali Shah, noting that the police records were not available to the attached prosecutor who carried out the trial for one reason or another.
The judge said he brought the matter to the prosecutor’s office notice for taking the necessary actions to register as many witnesses as possible at each hearing date. Otherwise, the court would proceed according to the law.
It has been observed that most of the cases of May 9 were suspended due to the lack of availability of cases of cases. On each date, police officers informed the courts that the records of the cases were available with the Supreme Court.
(With the entrance of our Lahore correspondent)
