Pakistan: Court sentences 51 Imran Khan supporters for 5 yrs over May 9 violence

A Pakistani court sentenced 51 supporters of former Prime Minister Imran Khan to five years of rigorous imprisonment on two counts for their involvement in attacking key military installations last year.

The attacks, which occurred in May last year, were allegedly carried out by supporters of Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party. These attacks targeted several military installations, including the army headquarters in Rawalpindi and the ISI building in Faisalabad. They were reportedly in response to the arrest of their party founder in a corruption case.

This marks the first conviction in the cases filed against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leaders, workers, and supporters related to the May 9 riots, which primarily took place in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.

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The convicts include Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf lawmaker Kaleemullah Khan.

The anti-terrorism court (ATC), Gujranwala handed down a year jail term to 51 supporters of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf on two counts for attacking the Gujranwala Cantonment (some 80 km from Lahore), law enforcement agencies personnel and torching police vehicles.

According to a court official, the court also imposed a fine of PKR 10,000 on each of them.

ATC Judge Natasha Naseem held the proceedings in the Central Jail, Gujranwala amid high security outside the jail and announced the verdict. The proceedings of the cases against the convict remained in-camera.

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In the May 9 violence in Gujranwala, one Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf worker was killed and scores of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf workers and policemen were injured.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf claims that over 10,000 of its leaders and workers, and supporters of Imran Khan have been languishing in different jails of Punjab and KP provinces since May last and they are not provided a fair chance to defend themselves against phoney charges.

Imran Khan, himself, has been in jail since August last year and just before the February 8 polls, he was sentenced to a 31-year jail term in three different cases. In total, he is facing over 200 cases.

With PTI inputs.