- Court hears 12 cases related to the May 9 riots registered in Rawalpindi division, including the GHQ attack
RAWALPINDI: The Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) Rawalpindi on Wednesday issued non-bailable arrest warrants for 14 convicted Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders, including Omar Ayub, Shibli Faraz, Sheikh Rashid Shafiq, Zartaj Gul, Kanwal Shauzab, and Sahibzada Hamid Raza, in connection with the GHQ attack and other May 9 riots cases.
The court directed the police to produce all 14 leaders at the next hearing on September 3.
ATC Judge Amjad Ali Shah heard 12 cases related to the May 9 riots registered in the Rawalpindi division, including the GHQ attack, the Army Museum assault, arson at sensitive buildings in Saddar, and the torching of Metro stations on Murree Road. The jail trial of the GHQ attack case was postponed once again, with the next session fixed for September 3.
The court rejected exemption pleas filed by lawyers of the 14 convicted leaders, ruling that since they had already been sentenced in the Faisalabad court, they must surrender before the court for seeking relief.
The ATC judge issued arrest warrants for 31 other accused who failed to appear without justification. Out of 119 witnesses in the GHQ attack case, 27 have recorded their statements, while three more have been summoned for the next hearing.
The court also distributed copies of challans to those accused present in other cases, with charges set to be framed against PTI’s founder and co-accused on the next date of hearing.
Former Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, former MNA Sadaqat Abbasi, and others appeared before the court. Strict security arrangements were made at the district courts during the proceedings.
