Islamabad:
The Anti -Terrorist Court of Islamabad (ATC) condemned on Friday and sentenced 11 individuals to several prison terms and fines in relation to the violence that occurred on May 9, 2023.
The charges against them included attacking the Ramna Police Station, assaulting police personnel, committing a fire and spreading terrorism.
Among those convicted were the member of Pakistan Tehreek-E-Insaf (PTI) of the National Assembly Abdul Latif and former Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa MPa Wazirzada Kailashi.
After the announcement of the verdict, four of the convicts, Muhammad Akram, Mira Khan, Shahzeb and Sohail Khan, were arrested from the court facilities. Arrest orders for the remaining seven were issued, namely Abdul Latif, Wazirzada Kailashi, Zaryab Khan, Samuel Robert, Abdul Basit, Shan Ali and Muhammad Yousuf.
The verdict, issued by Judge ATC Tahir Abbas Sipra, declared that the defendant attacked the Ramna Police Station, opened fire, threw stones and tried to kill the police officers. They also set fire to motorcycles.
According to the Court’s decision, the defendants were sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined with RS200,000 each for acts of terrorism.
In addition, they were sentenced to five years in prison and fined with RS50,000 each for trying to kill police personnel; four years in prison and a fine of RS40,000 each to burn motorcycles; Another four years in prison and a fine of RS40,000 each for setting the police station on fire; three months in prison to obstruct 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 that followed the arrest of the founder of PTI Imran Khan for positions of corruption in 2023. Several individuals were arrested in these cases, who have been tried by the military courts and the anti -terrorist courts in several cities.
ATCs throughout the country continue to listen to related cases. In April, a bank of three members of the Supreme Court, headed by the president of the Supreme Court Yahya Afridi, ordered ATC to conclude the procedures in the 9 cases of May within four months.
In Lahore, 14 pending cases are left in two ATC, who currently listen to them daily in the central prison of Kot Lakhpat. However, a judge of one of these courts indicated that the lack of availability of the case records was creating significant obstacles 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, stating that the police records were not being provided to the deputy prosecutor who made the trial for several reasons.
The judge emphasized that the matter had been called to the attention of the Prosecutor’s Office to take the necessary measures to ensure that witnesses could be registered at each hearing date. Warned that said action fail, the court would proceed in accordance with the law.
It has been observed that most of the cases of May 9 have faced postponements due to the lack of availability of relevant records. On each hearing date, police officers have informed the courts that the records of the case remain with the Supreme Court.
(With the entrance of our Lahore correspondent)
