Omar, Shibli, Zartaj among 75 PTI leaders jailed in Sana house attack case
Staff Report
FAISALABAD: In another blow to the Imran Khan-founded party, an anti-terrorism court in Faisalabad on Monday sentenced Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leaders Omar Ayub, Shibli Faraz, Zartaj Gul, and others to 10 years in prison for their involvement in the attack on PML-N stalwart Rana Sanaullah’s residence during the May 9, 2023 riots.
The court, while announcing its verdict in a case registered at the Samanabad Police Station, sentenced a total of 75 people out of the total 109 accused and acquitted 34 others.
Out of those sentenced, 59 were given 10-year imprisonment including Sheikh Rashid Shafiq, Rai Murtaza Iqbal, Farah Afgha, Kanwal Shauzab, Rai Hassan Nawaz, Ahmad Chattha, Ansar Iqbal, Bilal Ijaz, Ashraf Sohna, Mehr Javed, Shakeel Niazi and others.
Meanwhile, Sheikh Rashid Javed and other PTI workers were given a three-year prison sentence.
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.
On May 9, 2023, military installations and state-owned buildings were vandalised as PTI supporters protested the arrest of ex-premier Imran Khan, who was released later but has been imprisoned in various cases since August 2023. Following the riots, thousands of protesters, including the party’s top leadership, were arrested.
Judge Javed Iqbal Sheikh presided over the hearing of the case.
PTI legal team head Malik Khalid Shafiq confirmed the convictions. He said that out of the total 109 accused, 59 were handed 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment and 16 were given three years’ jail time.
Ayub, Faraz and Gul, as well as Muhammad Ahmad Chattha, were recently disqualified from their parliamentary seats following their convictions in other May 9 cases.
Former information minister Fawad Chaudhry, who quit PTI in the wake of the May 9 incidents, and MNA Zain Qureshi (son of PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi) were among those freed of the charges Monday.
Fawad and Zain had also been acquitted in three other Faisalabad cases pertaining to the May 9 riots.
PTI parliamentarians convicted would face automatic disqualification under Article 63(1)(g) of the Constitution, which bars members convicted of crimes involving moral turpitude or corrupt practices.
Reacting to the court verdict, Gul said on X that she was innocent. She contended that the verdict was based on the argument that she was present in a meeting held at Imran’s Zaman Park residence in Lahore on May 7, 2023, where plans for the protest were reportedly made.
However, according to Gul, she was present in her Dera Ghazi Khan constituency on that day, attending a “fateha, inauguration, wedding and other events”. She also shared screengrabs of social media posts that showed her activities that day, adding that she had presented this evidence in court.
