May 9 cases hearing at Adiala Jail today

ATC judge will indict 34 PTI leaders, 361 workers

RAWALPINDI:

An important hearing in 14 cases linked to the May 9 riots in the Rawalpindi district will be held at the Adiala Jail court on Wednesday (today).

Special Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) Judge Malik Ijaz Asif will distribute copies of challans to indict 34 central PTI leaders including Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, PTI founder Imran Khan, former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Parliamentary Leader in the National Assembly Zartaj Gul, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Omer Ayub Khan, Leader of the Opposition in Senate Shibli Faraz, Shireen Mazari, Shehryar Afridi, Raja Basharat, and former interior minister and Awami Muslim League’s Sheikh Rashid Ahmed and 361 workers.

The court has issued formal summons to all the accused leaders and workers and ordered them to ensure their attendance besides issuing a warning that arrest warrants will be issued for all the accused, who will remain absent today.

Copies of challans will be distributed in cases of the GHQ attack, the Army Museum attack, the GHQ gate number 4 attack, the burning of an important military building in Sadar, the burning of the office of a sensitive institution on the Shamasabad- Murree Road, the burning of a metro bus station, vandalism and arson. All the accused have been ordered to appear before the Adiala Jail’s court at 9am.

Police have submitted all challans to the court and sought pungent punishments for all the accused, including the PTI founder, after declaring them guilty.

On the other hand, former interior minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed has also filed petitions for acquittal in all these cases due to lack of evidence, which the court has approved for hearing and sought a response from the public prosecutors.

According to Ahmed, he was not present in Rawalpindi on May 9 and was implicated in all cases on political grounds.