An anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi formally filed charges against Aleema Khan and 10 other accused in a case related to the May 9 protests.
Aleema, sister of jailed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan, refused to sign the charge sheet and insisted that the court wait for a decision on her plea challenging the ATC’s jurisdiction to hear the case.
Aleema’s lawyer has challenged ATC’s jurisdiction under section 23 of the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997.
Section 23 of the ATA gives the ATC the power to transfer cases to the regular courts if it is satisfied that the offense is not a scheduled offence.
The petition, filed earlier, maintains that Aleema is not charged with direct protest but with conveying a message from Imran Khan, an act protected by the constitutional right to freedom of expression. He maintains that transmitting a message does not constitute a terrorist offense under Section 7 of the ATA.
ATC Judge Amjad Ali Shah admitted Aleema’s hearing petition and proceeded with the filing of the chargesheet. The judge held that the court would hear arguments from both sides on Aleema’s petition.
The hearing was later adjourned until October 17.
Read: ATC issues non-bailable arrest warrant for Aleema Khan
Earlier, State Prosecutor Zahir Shah strongly opposed the petition, calling it “illegal” and an attempt to “waste the court’s time.”
He argued that such a challenge could not stop the trial and noted that nine other defendants in the same case had already been convicted, making his petition inadmissible.
This case is one of the eleven registered against Aleema Khan. Other cases on May 9 refer to the attack on Gate IV of the General Headquarters (GHQ), the armed forces museum and the fire of a Metro Bus station, among others.
Read more: Court issues non-bail order for Aleema
Earlier, the court had accepted a similar petition by Aleema Khan challenging the charges and the court’s jurisdiction in a separate protest case on November 26. At that time, the court had canceled his no-bail arrest warrants.
A heavy police presence was observed at the courthouse on Wednesday.
“They must have come to arrest me. They have their orders.” He added that “if they have to arrest me, let them do it,” Aleema said, speaking to the media outside ATC.
Also read: PTI workers were not summoned to see Aleema Khan
“We have questioned the jurisdiction of the court as it lacks jurisdiction to hear this case,” said PTI lawyer Faisal Malik. He confirmed that a petition had been filed with “solid arguments” and that his central position was that “this case has no legal basis.”
The statement further states that if conveying Imran Khan’s message to media personnel is considered terrorism, then the media houses conveying it to the nation would be equally guilty. As a result, the defense has requested the withdrawal of the terrorism charge and the dismissal of the entire case.
The court has summoned five prosecution witnesses to take their statements at the next hearing on October 17, when the defense will also present its arguments on the jurisdiction challenge.
