By Staff Reporter
LAHORE: An anti-terrorism court in Lahore acquitted former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Tuesday in a case tied to the violent May 2023 riots, but sentenced several other leaders of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party to lengthy prison terms for their alleged roles in torching police vehicles near the residence of a senior military official.
The ruling by Judge Manzer Ali Gill of the anti-terrorism court (ATC) is the latest development in a series of legal battles stemming from the May 9, 2023, unrest that followed the arrest of former prime minister and PTI founder Imran Khan. Khan’s detention at the Islamabad High Court in a graft case triggered nationwide protests that targeted government buildings, military installations, and the Lahore corps commander’s residence, known as Jinnah House, prompting a sweeping crackdown on PTI and its supporters.
The case, filed by Sarwar Road Police, accused PTI leaders of setting fire to police vehicles near Jinnah House. Advocate Rana Mudassar said the court acquitted Qureshi but sentenced Yasmin Rashid, Ejaz Chaudhry, Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed, and former Punjab governor Omar Sarfraz Cheema to 10 years in prison. PTI activist and fashion designer Khadija Shah received a five-year sentence. Of the 51 accused, 12 were declared absconders, with trials completed for 39.
The verdict followed similar outcomes in other May 9-related proceedings, underscoring the mounting legal pressures on PTI amid a barrage of cases tied to the riots. In a separate ruling on the same day, ATC Judge Manzar Ali Gul convicted several PTI leaders in a case involving the burning of a Supreme Court judge’s car at Rahat Bakery Chowk on May 9, 2023. That hearing unfolded in Kot Lakhpat Jail, Lahore, where Mian Mehmood-ur-Rasheed and Umar Sarfraz Cheema each received 10 years’ imprisonment.
The court also handed a five-year sentence to Khadija Shah in that matter, though Rubina Jameel and Afshan Tariq were acquitted.
These convictions add to the cascade of setbacks for PTI, which has seen dozens of its leaders imprisoned over the May 9 events while Khan himself remains incarcerated in a host of other cases. Last month, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) de-notified several PTI lawmakers, including Senate opposition leader Shibli Faraz and National Assembly opposition leader Omar Ayub Khan, after their convictions in related riots cases.
That disqualification followed a decision by a special ATC in Faisalabad days earlier, which sentenced Ayub, Faraz, Zartaj Gul and others to 10 years each in connection with violence at the Civil Lines Police Station in the aftermath of the May 9 unrest.
The riots themselves unfolded with stunning speed and intensity. Thousands of Khan’s supporters stormed public property and military sites, including the Corps Commander House in Lahore and the General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi, in outrage over his arrest. Khan, the only prime minister in Pakistan’s history to be removed through a no-confidence vote, was taken into custody from the Islamabad High Court (IHC) grounds, igniting protests that raged for at least 24 hours and left a trail of vandalism and arson.
In the ensuing crackdown, authorities arrested scores of PTI members and filed numerous cases against party leaders. While several have been released on bail, many others — including prominent figures — continue to face detention as trials grind on in anti-terrorism courts across the country.
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