(Clockwise) Dr. Yasmin Rashid, Omar Sarfaraz Cheema, Ejaz Chaudhry, Mian Mahmood-ur-Rasheed, Photo: Archives
LAHORE:
An anti-terrorism court (ATC) has convicted some key 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 released his orders in a courtroom of Lahore Kot Lakhpat jail in connection with the Kalma Chowk and Gulberg cases.
The authorities had registered the acts of vandalism that occurred in Lahore after the arrest of former Prime Minister Imran Khan on May 9, 2023.
In the Gulberg case, the ATC handed down ten-year prison sentences to Dr Yasmin, Chaudhary Rasheed and Cheema. The defendants were charged under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) of 1997 with inciting rebellion and causing public unrest during the May 9 incidents.
The court also ordered the arrest and production of 12 proclaimed criminals, 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 Azhar and Wasiq Qayyum.
Police had charged 37 accused, 24 of whom were also tried.
During the trial, the prosecution brought 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 be held in the second phase once the ATC receives his charge sheet.
The ATC also found Dr Yasmin Rashid, Mahmoodur Rasheed, Ejaz Chaudhray and Omar Sarfraz Cheema guilty in the Gulberg vehicle burning case.
These leaders and three others were sentenced to 10 years in prison in the case as well. However, the court acquitted 22 accused.
A total of 33 accused had been named in the charge sheet, and four (Shehzad Khurram, Mian Aslam Iqbal, Ali Malik and Shabnam Jahangir) were found guilty. The court held the trial of 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 May 9 case, and sentenced each of them to ten years in prison.
However, the court acquitted 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 of non-payment of the fine, the convicts would have to undergo an additional year of imprisonment.
