ISLAMABAD: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Pakistan’s eastern city of Faisalabad sentenced senior aides of former prime minister Imran Khan for up to 10 years in prison on Monday for being involved in the attack on a federal minister’s house during the May 9, 2023, riots, Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party said in a statement.
Angry Khan supporters took to the streets on May 9, 2023, when the former prime minister was first briefly arrested by the country’s anti-corruption agency, NAB, in a land bribery case popularly called the Al-Qadir trust case. The government says supporters of Khan’s PTI had attacked important state buildings and damaged vehicles during the riots and ransacked military facilities. Khan and his aides deny instigating supporters to attack government and military installations.
According to the PTI, the ATC sentenced 75 people out of a total of 109 accused, acquitting 34. Fifty-nine were issued 10-year prison sentences, including senior Khan aides Omar Ayub Khan, Shibli Faraz, Zartaj Gul Wazir, and others for attacking the residence of Minister for Provincial Coordination Rana Sanaullah in Faisalabad during the May 9 riots, the party said.
“Under the guise of May 9, innumerable injustices have been inflicted upon ordinary citizens, families and leadership of PTI, harassed, lives shattered, and individuals subjected to unspeakable torment,” the PTI said in a message to the media.
Other aides of the former prime minister slapped with 10-year imprisonment sentences include Sheikh Rashid Shafiq, nephew of former railways minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, Rai Murtaza Iqbal, Kanwal Shauzab, Rai Hassan Nawaz, Ahmad Chattha, Ansar Iqbal, Bilal Ijaz, Ashraf Sohna, Mehr Javed, Shakeel Niazi and others.
Former information minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain and Zain Qureshi, son of senior Khan aide Shah Mahmood Qureshi, were among those acquitted of the charges.
Earlier this month, a court in Pakistan’s eastern city of Lahore sentenced over a dozen members of the PTI to as many as 10 years in prison for their involvement in the May 9, 2023, riots. These included Yasmin Rashid, Ejaz Chaudhry, Mahmood-ur-Rashid and Umar Sarfaraz Cheema. PTI leaders Alia Hamza and Sanam Javed were also sentenced to five years in prison.
Earlier, an ATC in Pakistan’s eastern Sargodha city sentenced Khan aides Ahmed Chattha, Bilal Ejaz and Punjab Assembly Opposition Leader Ahmed Khan Bachar to 10 years in prison on July 22 for their involvement in the 2023 riots as well.
It was followed by the sentencing of 108 PTI members on July 31, including Omar Ayub Khan, Faraz, Hamid Raza and Wazir to 10 years in prison by an anti-terrorism court in Faisalabad on July 31.
Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar has welcomed the court’s ruling, accusing PTI supporters of setting fire to government buildings, damaging military property and injuring law enforcement personnel during the May 9, 2023, unrest.
Khan, who remains popular despite being ousted from office after a parliamentary vote in April 2022, says the cases against him are politically motivated to keep him and his PTI away from power. The government denies these allegations and says Khan’s party carries out violent protests to derail the government’s efforts to ensure sustainable economic progress.
Pakistan’s top court last week granted bail to Khan in eight cases linked to the 2023 riots. He has been in jail since August 2023 when a court sentenced him to three years in prison for illegally selling state gifts while he was the premier. The sentence barred the opposition leader from contesting in 2024 general elections.