FAISALABAD, JAN 22 (DNA): An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on Wednesday issued non-bailable arrest warrants for National Assembly Opposition Leader Omar Ayub, Senate Opposition Leader Shibli Faraz, and others in a case related to their alleged involvement in the May 9 riots.
The arrest warrants, issued over failure to appear before court in a case registered at Civil Lines Police Station, have also been also issued against PTI’s Kanwal Shauzab as well as former party leader Fawad Chaudhry.
Meanwhile, expressing his views during his appearance before the court, PTI member provincial assembly (MPA) Junaid Afzal Sahi — who along with Khayal Ahmad Kastro had been declared absconder over failure to appear — said that a review petition has been filed which has been adjourned by the court.
The said case, concerned with setting ablaze a police van, accuses PTI leaders of aiding and abetting arson. Warrants were issued against the three PTI leaders and former minister Fawad over failure to appear in the previous hearing which have now been followed by the issuance of non-bailable arrest warrants.
The development comes as the party’s leadership, including its founder Imran Khan along with senior leaders such as Shah Mahmood Qureshi and others, remains embroiled in a plethora of legal cases owing to the May 9 incident which saw military installations being vandalised by an angry mob following Khan’s arrest in a graft case.
The riots have since been blamed on the PTI by both the then-Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government, the caretaker government and the current Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s administration — an allegation vehemently denied by the former ruling party.
In the aftermath of the violent incidents across the country, the individuals involved in the May 9 riots were tried by military courts which handed down stern punishments from two to 10 years to a total of 85 “culprits” which also included ex-PM Khan’s nephew Hassan Khan Niazi.
Although 19 convicts have since then been pardoned out of the total 67 who filed mercy petitions, the PTI has announced challenging the military court convictions of its workers and supporters, terming the trials of “civilians in the military courts a blatant violation of justice”.
The issue of the May 9 riots has also been made a key issue in its ongoing negotiations with the government as the party has demanded the formation of a judicial commission to probe the riots.
As per the PTI’s written ‘Charter of Demands’, the commission — the first of the two with the second one being tasked to probe events surrounding the party’s November 2024 protest in Islamabad — is to “conduct an in-depth inquiry into the legality of the events that led to the arrest of Khan”.
Apart from investigating circumstances in which groups of individuals were able to reach various high-security locations, the party also wants an inquiry into the manner in which those arrested in connection with the events of May 9 were apprehended and then kept in custody as well as the circumstances of their release along with alleged violation of human rights.
: An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on Wednesday issued non-bailable arrest warrants for National Assembly Opposition){kind=link}