Lahore: Seven prominent leaders of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party on Tuesday were sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment in the 2023 riots cases.
“The Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) Lahore handed down 10-year sentences each to Senator Ijaz Chaudhry, former Punjab governor Sarfraz Cheema, former provincial ministers Yasmin Rashid and Mahmoodur Rashid, and Advocate Azeem Pahat, who contested the last election against Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Lahore, in the May 9, 2023, case related to the Sharpao Bridge riots,” a court official told PTI.
All these leaders are facing multiple May 9 cases under terrorism charges. Political observers anticipate that these leaders may also be convicted in other May 9 cases. The court, however, acquitted PTI vice-chairman and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in this case.
In a separate case, ATC Sargodha handed down a 10-year jail term to Leader of Opposition in Punjab Assembly Malik Ahmed Khan Bhachar, PTI parliamentarian Ahmed Chattha, and former lawmaker Bilal Ejaz in the May 9 case. On May 9, 2023, military installations and state-owned buildings were vandalised after the arrest of PTI founder Imran Khan.
Following the riots, thousands of protesters, including the party’s top leadership, were arrested. Khan has been in jail since August 2023 in multiple cases. The federal government has welcomed the ATC sentencing, terming it as a positive step.
The PTI Punjab chapter head, Aliya Hamza, senior leader Babar Awan, and lawmaker Asad Qaiser condemned the sentences, saying that neither transparent nor legal procedures were followed in the cases, nor were any credible witnesses presented. “The demands of justice were grossly violated,” they said, adding that PTI will challenge the “biased decision” in the Lahore High Court.
In a separate statement, the PTI said, “The truth is that the military establishment’s role in this entire process is evident to all, and nothing called justice remains. These punishments are not only vengeful actions but also an insult to the country’s democracy, judiciary, and people, and now the people will no longer stay silent.”
PTI lawmaker Shafqat Awan said, “I have never seen a more horrific and brutal decision than the one given by the Sargodha ATC judge.”
