ATC to indict Imran in GHQ case on 19th

Separates the case from other May 9, 2023 cases

RAWALPINDI:

A Special Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on Wednesday distributed copies of the charge-sheet among the 289 people accused of attacking the General Headquarters (GHQ) on May 9, 2023.

The ATC judge, Amjad Ali Shah, will indict the accused including former prime minister Imran Khan, former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, former interior minister Sheikh Rashid and former human rights minister Shireen Mazari on October 19.

Earlier, the court separated the GHQ attack case from other May 9, 2023 related cases and decided to expedite its hearing. It adjourned hearing of all the other thirteen May 9 related cases till November 4. Interestingly, the ATC held its proceedings at the city's courthouse and not inside Adiala Jail in view of security concerns.

Hearing of all the cases in which the PTI founder has been named as accused are generally held at Rawalpindi's Adiala jail, where Imran, his wife Bushra Bibi and Shah Mahmood Qureshi are currently detained.

On Wednesday, counsels for Imran and Qureshi received copies of the charge-sheet. The court also issued arrest warrants for all 23 absent accused. Shireen Mazari, Sheikh Rashid, Sadaqat Abbasi, Amjad Niazi, and Usman Dar also appeared in court.

During the hearing, defense lawyers Faisal Malik and Rizwan Akhtar said many accused in the GHQ attack case had not received copies of the charge-sheet.

They contended that as Imran Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi are in jail and did not appear in court, the distribution of copies is not entirely valid. They requested the court to either summon the PTI founder to fulfill legal requirements or conduct the hearing in Adiala Jail.

They argued that no further proceedings can take place until all accused in the GHQ case are present in the court.

Meanwhile, government prosecutor Raja Haseeb Sultan Advocate noted that the GHQ attack case has been separated from other cases. On the next date, October 19, charges will be framed in the GHQ attack case, and witnesses will be summoned. The next hearing will take place at Adiala jail.

PTI workers and leaders, nominated in cases related to the protests at Liaquat Bagh on September 28 and Islamabad's D-Chowk on October 4, did not appear in the court and submitted applications citing illness. A large number of police officers and plainclothes personnel were deployed outside the court to arrest the accused.