May 12 mayhem: Karachi mayor, 18 others indicted

All 19 suspects plead not guilty, 16 deemed absconders

KARACHI: An anti-terrorism court on Tuesday indicted 19 suspects, including Karachi Mayor Wasim Akhtar, in a case related to the carnage which unfolded across the port city on May 12, 2007.

The suspects pleaded not guilty, and the witnesses were summoned for the next hearing scheduled for June 23. The hearing of the four cases pertaining to the incident took place in Karachi's ATC Court-II.



Akhtar and other suspects appeared before the court. The arrested suspect, Umair Siddiqui, was also presented. The court indicted all suspects in one out of the four cases. All 19 suspects are on bail. A total of seven cases were registered related to the tragic incident. Four of these cases are underway in court II, and three are pending in court III.

Besides the apprehended Siddiqui, the court has termed the 16 missing suspects as absconders.

Speaking to the media after the hearing Mayor Akhtar said that the May 12 incident should be investigated from scratch. "Real facts and faces must be brought before the public," he said, claiming that innocent people were facing the case.

"If matters continue like this then people will distrust the system," he said. Akhtar said that he will face the cases instead of absconding. He further added that after becoming mayor, he was flooded with cases.

"20, 20 cases were filed against me in one day. Rao Anwar took me from jail and registered an FIR against me, now he's facing cases himself. The Supreme Court must take suo motu notice of this," he added.

He called for reopening of all cases including Hyderabad Pakka Qila, Ali Garh and bomb blasts so that the public may learn the facts. Akhtar alleged that these are individual cases and when the cases were registered in 2007, his name was not present. He added that he had been made a target of political revenge.

On May 12 2018, The Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar summoned the record file of the May 12 incident of 2007. Before initiating the cases in the SC’s Karachi registry, the top judge said that a prayer should be recited for all those martyred in the May 12 incident.



Justice Nisar summoned records of the May 12 incident which left 50 dead, including lawyers and political activists as they went to welcome former chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry in 2007.

After the prayers, the CJP inquired from lawyer Faisal Siddiqui as to whether an inquiry in that incident took place. Siddiqui informed the court that the matter is being heard at the Sindh High Court (SHC), upon which the CJP asked for details so he could examine the case himself.