ISLAMABAD: Anti-Terrorism Court Judge Tahir Abbas Supra on Friday sentenced 11 people including PTI MNA Abdul Latif and former MPA Wazirzada Kalashi in a case registered on May 9 by the Ramna Police Station. The police took into custody the four accused present in court Muhammad Akram, Mira Khan, Shahzeb and Sohail Khan. The court issued arrest warrants for the absent accused. Delivering a reserved verdict, the court sentenced the accused to a total of 15 years and four months in prison and a fine, saying that the accused attacked the police station, opened fire, pelted stones and tried to kill policemen. The accused set motorcycles on fire for their own purposes.
As many as 24 witnesses recorded their testimonies against the accused. The identity parade of the accused was held before a magistrate. The court said if police stations in Islamabad were attacked, no place in the country would be habitable. The accused should be given death sentence for the murderous attack on police.
Meanwhile, the court granted bail to a social media program anchor, Shanze Sheikh, in two cases registered in 2019. During the hearing, the judge said: “You took the position in the application that you were given written questions, your fee is being used? Wasn’t the person who was giving the written questions capable of coming on the screen and asking the questions himself? Where is the journalism that someone writes a question and you speak it? Now social media has also come, they are 5 hands ahead, but they have no idea about journalism.”
The petitioner’s lawyer said all the other accused in these cases have been acquitted. The court confirmed Shanze’s bail against bonds of Rs 10,000 each. The cases had been registered against the woman in the Police Station Secretariat.
In another case, the court adjourned the hearing of two cases registered on March 14, 2023 against PTI leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi and his workers. The court had summoned the accused who appeared. Adjourning the hearing, the court said a letter has been written regarding the PTI founder. Due to unavailability of the PTI founder, the proceedings are not progressing. The two cases had been registered against the accused in the Khanna Police Station. In a separate case, the ATC indicted six more accused in a vandalism, arson and encirclement case. The six appeared in court during the hearing. The court charged them with offences, while the accused denied the charges. The court adjourned the hearing until July 3. As many as 42 people have already been indicted in the case. The case had been registered against the PTI workers in the Shams Colony Police Station.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Friday denounced the sentences handed down to MNA Abdul Latif, former advisor for Minority Affairs Kailash Kumar and other PTI leaders in the May 9 case by an anti-terrorism court, terming the decision unlawful and a blatant violation of justice.
PTI Central Secretary Information Waqas Akram, in a statement, declared that the party would approach the Islamabad High Court and challenge this unjust verdict by the ATC. He announced that the PTI would approach the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and other global forums against this unabated injustice and political victimisation of the PTI – the largest political party in Pakistan. He made it clear that the party would adopt a strong and powerful strategy in this regard and the parliamentarians are going to hold massive protests in all provinces to demand an end to this system of tyranny.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is set to take up a disqualification reference against Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly and senior Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Omar Ayub Khan on June 4 for initial hearing.
According to the cause list uploaded on its website, the Election Commission has mentioned that ‘a reference under Articles 62 and 63 for disqualification of Omar Ayub Khan, MNA, NA,18, forwarded by Speaker NA on the application of Babar Nawaz Khan’ has been fixed for first hearing on June 4 at 10:00am’. Accordingly, notices have been issued to both Omar Ayub and Babar Nawaz.
It was learnt that the Speaker NA, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, forwarded the reference on Friday based on an application filed by former MNA Babar Nawaz, who belongs to PMLN and lost 2024 general elections from NA-18 (Haripur) to Omar Ayub with a huge margin of 82000 votes.
