An anti-terrorism court in Pakistan’s Rawalpindi on Saturday sentenced 47 leaders and supporters of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf to 10 years’ imprisonment in connection with violence during the May 9, 2023 protests that followed the arrest of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, Dawn reported.
The court also imposed a fine of 5 lakh Pakistani rupees on each convict and ordered that their properties be confiscated.
“The charges of arson, vandalism, attacks on police officials and damage to government property were proven against the accused,” District and Sessions Judge Amjad Ali Shah said, according to Dawn.
Those sentenced include prominent Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf figures such as Omar Ayub Khan, Shibli Faraz, Shahbaz Gill, Zulfi Bukhari, Murad Saeed, Zartaj Gul, Hammad Azhar, Kanwal Shauzab, Sheikh Rashid Shafique, Muhammad Ahmad Chattha and Rai Hassan Nawaz, PTI reported.
The court noted that as the 47 individuals had remained absent from proceedings for nearly two years, they were tried separately under provisions of the Anti-Terrorism Act that allow proceedings against absconding suspects, the news agency reported.
The court directed the law enforcement authorities to arrest the convicted individuals and send them to jail once they appear or are apprehended. It also said the absconding convicts could seek a retrial if they surrender before the court within a stipulated period, Dawn reported.
In total, 118 persons including Imran Khan and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, were indicted in the case in December 2024.
The former prime minister’s government was removed from power in April 2022. He was later arrested on May 9, 2023, but released shortly afterwards.
Imran Khan faces several criminal cases, mostly linked to alleged corruption. He was arrested again in August 2023 and has been held at Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail since September 2023.
His arrest in May 2023 had triggered widespread unrest across Pakistan, during which government buildings and military installations, including the General Headquarters, the seat of the army chief, in Rawalpindi, were stormed and vandalised.
The authorities subsequently launched a crackdown on the party, filing dozens of terrorism cases against its leaders and supporters.
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