LAHORE:
An anti -terrorism court (ATC) at Lahore presented its verdict on Monday in two separated cases of May 9, condemning some key PTI leaders, including Umar Sarfraz Chema, Dr. Yasmin Rashid, Ejaz Chaudhry and Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed.
However, the ATC, which celebrated its procedures in a Court Chamber within the Kot Lakhpat prison in Lahore, acquitted the vice president of PTI, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, in both cases recorded following the disturbance incidents that arose after the arrest of the founder of PTI, Imran Khan, on May 9, 2023.
Lahore ATC-I Judge Manzer Ali Gill announced his verdict reserved a week ago in two cases related respectively to the burning of police vehicles in Rahat Bakery, near the house of the commander of Lahore’s body and the attack at the Shadman Police station on May 9, 2023.
In the case of Rahat Bakery, the judge acquitted seven of the 17 defendants, including Shah Mahmood Qureshi, but sentenced the others, including Chema, Dr. Yasmin, Ejaz Chaudhry, Rashid at ten years in prison.
Those who were acquitted also included Muhammad Awais, Faizan, Taya Sultan, Shahid Baig, Sohail Khan, Rafiuddin, Fareed Khan, Sulaiman Ahmad, Abdul Qadir and Majid Ali.
In the case of attack of the Shadman Police Station, the ATC acquitted 12 of the 25 people accused, including Shah Mahmood Qureshi.
However, he condemned Chee, Dr. Yasmin Rashid, Ejaz Chadhry, Rashid and sentenced them to 10 years in prison. The court also sentenced Aliya Hamza de PTI and Sanam Javed and sentenced them to 5 years in prison.
Previously, during the arguments, the defendant’s lawyer, Burhan Moazzam Malik, questioned the involvement of the people accused in the FIR, stating that the forged and frivolous content had been written against innocent people.
He also caught the attention of the Court to article 13 of the Constitution of Pakistan, 1973, which states that “no one will be punished twice for the same crime.”
He said the Prosecutor’s Office attributed the May 9 conspiracy to PTI leadership. He said that conspiracy is a single act: but prayers are repeatedly granted to PTI’s leadership.
He argued that the prosecution is witnessing so Hassam Afzal and agent Khalid admitted during the interrogation that they had given statements in five ATCs different to date, and their statement recorded in this case was his sixth. In addition, they admitted that all these statements belonged to the same alleged conspiracy that is said to be ventured into Zaman Park, Lahore.
The witnesses of the Prosecutor also admitted that, from now on, five of those courts have already announced their judgments in the relevant cases in which they had previously deposed.
On the basis of his statements in those cases, the ATC registered convictions against some of the accused people, since he already granted punishment for the same crime, based on the same evidence given by these witnesses.
It was also argued that the defendant Dr. Yasmin Rashid and Shah Mahmood Qureshi have already been tried by the ATC in FIR 97/2023, registered at the Sarwar Road Police station, where Yasmin was convicted of hatching this conspiracy in the Zaman Park, while Qureshi was acquitted.
Therefore, any additional processing, judgment or procedure against both defendants is unconstitutional, illegal and illegal under articles 4 and 13 of the Pakistan Constitution, read with section 403 of the CRPC and section 26 of the Law of General Clauses.
He argued that the Prosecutor’s Office or any procedure against the same accused persons, in the same accusation, for the same crime, based on the same evidence, is prohibited and not guaranteed by law.
With respect to the non -inspection of the alleged conspiracy site by the Investigation Officers (iOS), the non -identification by the witnesses of the Prosecutor’s Office and the absence of a site plan, Malik argued that both witnesses of the alleged conspiracy never pointed out any place of conspiracy.
The iOS also admitted that they had never visited or inspired the alleged place of conspiracy and admitted that no site plan had been prepared for such location. This means that such conspiracy has never been incubated and the Prosecutor’s Office could not prove the accusation.
He argued that Qureshi, Dr. Yasmin, Aliya Hamza and others were supposedly present at the scene or accused of committing any mischief or causing damage to the property.
No specific accusation of causing damage to any property or committing any mischief, either by fire caused or otherwise, was once leveled against any of the other defendants throughout the trial.
Malik stressed that none of the defendants were mentioned as present in the alleged crime scene in the FIR; No characteristics or descriptions of accused people unknown in the FIR were provided and no accusation of instigation was made by any of the defendants, while physically instead of occurrence.
He argued that no accusation of instigation or provocation through social networks was leveled in the FIR. There was no explanation of the delay in the FIR accommodation by the plaintiff and there was no accusation of any conspiracy created in Zaman Park was mentioned in the FIR.
He said that in the FIR, a witness of any supposed instigation or conspiracy was not mentioned and neither time, date or place of the supposed conspiracy.
Another lawyer, Rana Mudassar Umar, argued that there is no concrete evidence available to establish any link between the accused people and the charges in the FIR.
They argued that politically motivated cases had been registered against the defendant simply to humiliate and blackmail them, and added that they were involved in falsified cases to be in the founding president of PTI, Imran Khan.
However, the Prosecutor’s Office implored the Court that there were substantial and convincing evidence against the accused people who show that they incited the public to commit the crime.
He added that the defendants are totally involved in the crimes committed on May 9, including the hatching of a conspiracy, the harmful state properties, the incbala of the police trucks and the creation of problems of law and order, anarchy and chaos.
