May 9 riots: Rawalpindi ATC sentences 47 PTI leaders, supporters to 10 years in GHQ attack case

2026-03-07 - 11:13

RAWALPINDI: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Rawalpindi on Saturday sentenced 47 proclaimed offenders, including prominent PTI leaders Hammad Azhar, Omar Ayub and Zartaj Gul, to 10 years in prison in the May 9 GHQ attack case. District and Sessions Judge Amjad Ali Shah, who presided over ATC No. 1, penned a 16-page detailed judgment, which is available with Dawn. The convicts included Senator Shibli Faraz, Murad Saeed, Shahbaz Gill, Zulfi Bukhari, as well as ex-MNAs Kanwal Shauzab, Rai Hassan Nawaz, Muhammad Ahmed Chattha and Sheikh Rashid Shafique. The court imposed a fine of Rs500,000 each and ordered the confiscation of their property in favour of the state. Imran Khan’s arrest on May 9, 2023, triggered widespread riots across Pakistan, during which government buildings and military installations — including the GHQ in Rawalpindi — were stormed and vandalised. Following the unrest, a crackdown was launched against the PTI, with dozens of terrorism cases lodged against its leaders and supporters. Several of those sentenced, including Ayub, Faraz, Gul, Nawaz and Chathha, have already been convicted in other May 9 cases, resulting in their disqualification from public office. Other convicts included Rai Muhammad Murtaza Iqbal, Shoukat Ali Bhatti, Usman Saeed Basra, Ijaz Khan Jazi, Malik Abid Hussain, Zahid Abbas Choudhary, Faisal Mukhtar, and Muzamil Masood Bhatti, among others. The court noted that, as per the Joint Investigation Team’s (JIT) report, the accused were found to be involved in planning the violent incidents of May 9. The verdict stated that the accused were also involved in attacks on GHQ Gate No 1, Hamza Camp, the Army Museum and the Sixth Road Metro Station. “The charges of arson, vandalism, attacks on police officials and damage to government property were proven against the accused,” the court observed. A total of 118 accused, including Imran and Shah Mehmood Qureshi, were indicted in the case, while statements of 44 prosecution witnesses have been recorded so far, according to the verdict. The court said out of the 118 accused, 18 continuously remained absent during the trial, while 29 never appeared in court after the case was registered. A separate trial was subsequently conducted for the 47 proclaimed offenders under Section 21L (punishment for an absconder) of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997. Imran was indicted in the case on Dec 5, 2024. The PTI founder, who has been incarcerated since Aug 5, 2023, was formally arrested by the Rawalpindi police in the GHQ attack case in January 2024. The prosecution had filed a petition for action against the proclaimed offenders on January 6 this year, on which the court ordered an inquiry. In the judicial inquiry, all 47 accused were declared wilful absconders. A proclamation was published in the national daily Nawa-i-Waqt on January 8, giving the accused seven days to surrender before the court. However, none of them appeared. The court appointed senior counsel Chaudhary Muhammad Masood Amin as state counsel for the accused and framed charges. The prosecution recorded statements of 19 witnesses, while the state counsel cross-examined them. The convicts are entitled to retrial on merit under Section 19(12) of the ATA if they surrender within two months, or even afterwards on showing good cause for non-appearance, the court clarified. More to follow