LAHORE: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Saturday sentenced four senior Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders, Dr Yasmin Rashid, Omar Sarfraz Cheema, Mahmood ur Rashid and Ejaz Chaudhry, to 10 years imprisonment, and acquitted former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi of all charges in a May 9 case related to the burning of police vehicles.
ATC Judge Manzar Ali Gul announced the reserved verdict inside the Kot Lakhpat Jail, Lahore, where the accused are being held. The case is linked to the burning of police vehicles during the May 9, 2023 unrest and had been filed against 22 accused, including Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Dr Yasmin Rashid and Ejaz Chaudhry among others. The court had reserved its verdict after the completion of final arguments by defence lawyers. During the proceedings, the prosecution had recorded statements of 37 witnesses before the case moved to the final arguments stage. The development adds to the mounting legal woes faced by the Imran Khan-founded PTI, which has seen scores of leaders getting prison sentences over the May 9 riots while several others, including the former prime minister, remain behind bars in a plethora of cases. It may be noted that Rashid, Cheema and Chaudhary are among the ones who have been found guilty in other May 9 cases earlier as well.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) categorically rejected the ‘unjust’ 10-year sentences awarded to its senior leaders Dr Yasmin Rashid, Mian Mahmood ur Rashid, Ijaz Chaudhry and Umar Sarfraz Cheema in the vehicle burning case linked to the events of 9th May 2023.
PTI Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram described the verdict as a grave miscarriage of justice that stands in complete violation of the fundamental principles of fairness, due process, and the rule of law. “These sentences represent a dark chapter of political vendetta and institutional partisanship. No direct evidence has been presented linking these respected leaders to the incidents of 9th May, yet they continue to be systematically targeted. This is not justice, it is a calculated campaign of persecution designed to crush a popular political movement and its leadership,” said Waqas Akram.
The PTI leadership, he noted, expressed deep anguish over the manner in which the current ruling dispensation is blatantly misusing the judicial system to settle political scores and silence dissent.
The party appealed to the judiciary to rise above all forms of coercion and deliver judgments strictly in line with the Constitution and the law of the land, as only through such impartiality can the sacred cause of justice be upheld and the fading trust of the people in state institutions be restored.
