An anti-terrorism court in Pakistan on Saturday sentenced four senior leaders of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan's party to 10 years in prison over violent protests that erupted after his brief detention in 2023, while acquitting former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, their lawyers said.
Convictions and Acquittals
Those convicted include senior Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders Yasmin Rashid, Ejaz Chaudhry, Omar Sarfraz Cheema and Mian Mahmood-ur-Rasheed, according to party lawyers. The court also sentenced four party workers to 10 years in prison and acquitted Qureshi along with 11 others. The case relates to attacks on police vehicles in Lahore during nationwide unrest that followed Khan's arrest by anti-graft authorities in May 2023.
“The Anti-Terrorism Court today sentenced four leaders and four workers of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to 10 years’ imprisonment each, while acquitting one leader and eleven workers,” Barrister Taimur Malik, a party lawyer and PTI Punjab secretary for legal affairs, told Arab News.
Qureshi's Status
Malik said Qureshi, who has secured acquittals and bail in a number of cases in recent years, would remain imprisoned because two of his bail applications in separate cases were still pending before an anti-terrorism court in Lahore.
The convictions are the latest in a series of verdicts stemming from the unrest that followed Khan's arrest on May 9, 2023. The protests, some of the most severe in Pakistan's recent history, saw supporters of the former premier attack military installations, government buildings and other state properties across the country.
Political Context
The violence marked an unprecedented challenge to Pakistan's powerful military, which has long played an influential role in the country's politics. Authorities launched a sweeping crackdown afterward, arresting thousands of Khan supporters and senior party leaders.
Khan, who was removed from office through a parliamentary no-confidence vote in 2022, has been facing dozens of legal cases since his ouster. He got relief from the country's top judiciary after his May 9 detention but was later arrested in August 2023 and has since been prosecuted in a number of cases that his party says are politically motivated and designed to keep him out of politics.
Legal Challenges
Saturday's verdict is one of several rulings delivered in cases linked to the 2023 unrest. Courts have already handed down convictions in a number of other cases related to attacks on public property and security installations during the protests.
“We believe these sentences are unfounded and unjust, and therefore we intend to challenge them before the appropriate legal forum,” Mian Ali Ashfaq, another lawyer representing the accused, told Arab News. The government has denied PTI’s claims in the past, saying the law is taking its due course.
