ATC bars foreign travel by GHQ attack case accused

RAWALPINDI:

The police nominated all the three approvers in 14 cases stemming from an attack on a GHQ gate on May 9, 2023 after the defection, while an anti-terrorism court (ATC) placed a ban on more than 100 accused from leaving the country on Monday.

The GHQ related case was taken up before Rawalpindi Special ATC Judge Amjad Ali Shah. During the hearing, the police removed the names of Sadaqat Abbasi, Wasiq Qayyum and Umar Tanveer Butt from their witnesses list and designated them as accused.

Following defection of the three witnesses, the court disposed of their plea for retracting their statements. A defence lawyer said that after the defection of the three star witnesses, the police case had crumbled.

The judge ordered that any foreign travel by all the 121 accused in the case would be subject to the court's permission. In this regard, he directed the director general of Passports and Immigration to take necessary measures.

During the hearing, Omar Ayub Khan, Shireen Mazari, Sheikh Rasheed and other accused appeared in the court. The presence of PTI founder Imran Khan was also marked on the basis of 'Robakar' brought from the jail.

Some 38 other accused, including Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, Zartaj Gul, and Shibli Faraz, requested exemption from the hearing. The judge approved their request. Later, further hearing of the case was adjourned.

In separate proceedings inside the Adiala Jail by Judge Shah, the PTI founder was given the inspection note of the GHQ gate attack case. Though Imran's lawyers raised objections, claiming that the documents were tampered with, the PTI founder received them.

Separately, Islamabad Judicial Magistrate Yasir Mahmood Chaudhry acquitted Imran and others, including Faisal Vawda and Sheikh Rashid, in a case filed under the Amplifier Act and the violation of the Section-144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).

Judge Chaudhry issued the detailed judgement, highlighting inconsistencies in the prosecution's narrative. The court observed that the prosecution alleged that a crowd of 1,000 to 1,200 individuals attacked police officers, but no injuries to police personnel were reported.

The judgment noted significant doubts surrounding the prosecution's account and ruled that the complainant's allegations could not be substantiated. He said that even if there was a trial, the likelihood of a conviction was minimal due to the weak evidence presented.

The judge ordered the release of all the accused, including Fawad Chaudhry, Shibli Faraz, Asad Qaiser, and Fayazul Hassan Chohan, provided they were not detained in other cases. The case was registered in August 2022 at the Aabpara police station.