LAHORE: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Lahore has acquitted Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) senior vice chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi in two May 9 cases, while sentencing other senior party leaders Dr Yasmin Rashid, Senator Ejaz Chaudhry, Mian Mehmood ur Rasheed, former Punjab governor Omar Sarfraz Cheema and several others to 10 years in prison.
ATC Judge Manzar Ali Gill, who conducted the hearings at a makeshift court in Kot Lakhpat Jail, announced the verdict on Monday. The court had reserved its decision late last week after hearing arguments from both sides, saying it would be delivered on August 11.
In the Jinnah House vehicle torching case, the court sentenced Rashid, Cheema, Chaudhry, Rasheed, Ayesha Ali Bhutta, Muhammad Fahim, Niaz Ahmed, Ali Hasan, Zain Ali, Asad Ali, Bilal Wajahat, Bilal Bashir, Muhammad Qasim and Zain ul Hassan to 10 years imprisonment each.
Hafiz Muhammad Arshad was also handed the same sentence. Aliya Hamza and Sanam Javed were awarded five years each. In the same case, Qureshi, Abrar, Amjad, Faisal, Jamil, Saadia and Tasneem were acquitted.
In the Shadman Police Station torching case, out of 25 accused, the court acquitted 12, including Qureshi, Sohail Khan, Muhammad Owais, Rafiuddin, Farid Khan, Salman Ahmed, Abdul Qadir, Faizan, Tayyab Sultan, Shahid Baig, Majid Ali and Bakht.
The court had earlier declared several suspects absconders in both cases. No accused who had been released on bail, including Aliya and Sanam, was present in court when the verdict was announced. One suspect had died during the course of the trial.
The PTI strongly denounced and rejected the Lahore ATC decisions and vowed to pursue legal, public and political struggle at every forum ‘for the sake of justice’. In reaction to the development, PTI Information Secretary Waqas Akram called the ATC verdicts a brazen affront to justice and the rule of law. He condemned the ‘weaponisation’ of the judiciary against political opponents, describing the sham convictions as a blatant travesty of justice and the final nail in the coffin of judicial integrity.
He contended that these verdicts were delivered purely on the basis of political vendetta, disregarding all legal principles and the requirements of a fair trial. “It is deeply regrettable that transparency was entirely discarded in these cases, with the accused denied even the basic right to present their defence. The trials were held late into the night, behind closed doors, deliberately shielding proceedings from the public and media to secure predetermined outcomes,” he claimed.
The PTI spokesman noted that absurd and unfounded evidence, along with fabricated testimonies, was accepted without any legal basis, in a deliberate, premeditated attempt to trample the very principles of justice.
“Convicting the country’s most popular political leaders — entirely peaceful and law-abiding Pakistanis — on fabricated terrorism charges is nothing less than a brazen mockery of both the Constitution and the very concept of justice,” he added.
Waqas maintained that a series of one-sided and unlawful decisions, issued in quick succession under a pre-written script, clearly demonstrates that the real aim was to crush the PTI, intimidate its leadership, and silence its workers.
The PTI spokesman asserted that the identical and controversial judgements delivered by the courts prove that Pakistan’s judicial system has been rendered dysfunctional and meaningless. “These decisions will never deter us from our struggle for democratic rights, constitutional supremacy and the rule of law,” he vowed, and affirmed that the PTI would challenge every unjust and politically motivated verdict in the high courts and the Supreme Court, vowing to fight for justice until the very last breath.
He underscored the urgent need to restore the true spirit of law and justice, and to immediately quash all politically engineered cases. Reiterating unwavering solidarity with the ‘innocent’ leaders and workers, he pledged that the party would exhaust every legal and democratic avenue to secure justice for them.
Waqas reiterated that the PTI would not hesitate to make any sacrifice to uphold constitutional supremacy, safeguard judicial independence, strengthen true democracy, and protect the fundamental right to free speech.