A Pakistani anti-terrorism court on Thursday said jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s actions were those of a “terrorist” in a case linked to the May 9 violence. The court ruled that he had tasked party leaders to attack military installations, government properties and police officers to press for his release.
The 71-year-old PTI founder and hundreds of his party colleagues are on trial in multiple cases, including one under the Official Secrets Act in connection with the violent protests carried out by his supporters on May 9, 2023, in which major military installations were damaged across Pakistan. Unprecedented protests had erupted across Pakistan after Mr Khan was arrested on May 9 last year in an alleged corruption case.
Workers of Mr Khan’s party reportedly vandalised a dozen military installations, including Jinnah House (Lahore Corps Commander House), the Mianwali airbase and the ISI building in Faisalabad. The Army Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi was also attacked by a mob for the first time.
Mr Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf party called the anti-terrorism court’s decision an “absurd order” and announced it would launch protests against it.
The Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Lahore earlier this week rejected Mr Khan’s pre-arrest bail in three cases related to the May 9 riots and allowed the police his continued custody for questioning.
In a detailed order issued here on Thursday, ATC Judge Khalid Arshad said: “The extraordinary concession of pre-arrest bail is for an innocent person and not for the petitioner Imran Khan Niazi, who entered into the alleged criminal conspiracy with the senior PTI leadership and protesters/accused with the sole objective of waging war against the state to topple the government.” The order said Mr Khan not only incited the people but also directed the leaders to create chaos, disturb law and order and commit arson to pressurise the army and the government for his release. This was revealed in the statements of two prosecution witnesses, The Express Tribune newspaper reported.
“The pre-arrest bail of the petitioner has no merit and the interim bail already granted to him is hereby withdrawn and dismissed,” the judge said.
The judge further said: A peaceful protester becomes a “terrorist” when he hatches a criminal conspiracy, propagates it and shares the same object with other accused who, being armed, attack and attempt to damage state properties such as the Lahore Corps Commander House known as Jinnah House in Lahore, targeting the government machinery… He loses his normal right to be a law-abiding citizen.”
Quoting the Special Public Prosecutor, the order said a criminal conspiracy was hatched at Mr Khan’s Lahore Zaman Park residence on May 7 and 8, with Mr Khan himself informing the PTI top leadership about his apprehension of arrest and the response to launch protests and damage military installations.
Reacting to the detailed ACT order, PTI said, “The verdict finds no evidence of Imran Khan ordering the May 9 violence. The judge is making conjectures and assumptions while rejecting Mr Khan’s pre-arrest bail.” PTI in its statement pointed out how earlier the Supreme Court of Pakistan had termed Imran Khan’s arrest illegal and said: “We will challenge the anti-terrorism court’s verdict. Anti-terrorism courts in other parts of the country including Rawalpindi, Sargodha etc have dismissed the case accusing Imran Khan of being the main accused of instigating the May 9 violent incidents based on the fact that no evidence has been produced to prove the prosecution’s case,” PTI said.
The party also claimed that since Mr Khan is in jail only in the iddat case, “which is obviously arriving at a conclusion on the likelihood of the rubbish claims made by the complainant being dismissed”, it appears to be another politically motivated case to prolong Mr Khan’s illegal incarceration.
Meanwhile, the party’s parliamentary committee decided that it will raise its voice for Mr Khan and all innocent prisoners through protests or rallies, and will launch a movement immediately.
“Parliamentary Leader Ms Zartaj Gul Wazir @zartajgulwazir chaired the discussion regarding decisions taken in the Parliamentary Committee meeting,” PTI said in a post on its official X handle.
Advocate Abuzar Salman Niazi, a member of the PTI core committee, said on X: “Absurd order. The judge has declared Imran Khan is not innocent. Note: The trial is still going on and no conviction is on record in this case. How can Imran Khan be declared guilty before the trial is completed. Where will the principle of law (everyone is innocent until proven guilty) go.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
