Parliament attack case: Arrest warrants for 48 suspects issued

Over their failure to appear before court in cases pertaining to attack on PTV building and Parliament House in 2014


Our Correspondent July 11, 2016
Over a hundred workers and supporters of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) were booked, and later released on bail in the cases. PHOTO: anheimblog

ISLAMABAD: An anti-terrorism court issued on Monday bailable warrants of arrest for 48 suspects over their failure to appear before the court in cases pertaining to an attack on the Pakistan Television (PTV) building and Parliament House in August 2014.

The ATC judge, Syed Kausar Abbas Zaidi, issued bailable warrants for the suspects with directions to appear before the court on the next date of hearing – August 22.

At the previous hearing that took place before the month of Ramazan, the suspects had requested the court to grant long adjournment on the grounds that the hot weather would make it “difficult” for them to appear in court.

The judge, however, had remarked that he could not give such a long adjournment but would accept exemption applications, if filed in a timely manner.

The court had also warned that arrest warrants would be issued against anyone failing to appear before the court without having filed an exemption application.

Subsequently, a number of suspects filed exemption applications and their requests were accepted by the court but following Eid, only three suspects appeared before the court during Monday’s hearing.

Consequently, the court issued warrants against those who failed to appear before the court without court’s permission.

Over a hundred workers and supporters of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) were booked, and later released on bail in the cases.

All of them were arrested during the 2014 PTI and PAT sit-ins against alleged rigging in the last general elections.

The sit-ins, however, ended in the wake of the Peshawar school massacre.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 12th, 2016.

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