By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: An anti-terrorism court sentenced a sitting legislator and 10 supporters of Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaf party to 27 years in prison on Friday for leading a violent assault on a police station during May 9, 2023 nationwide riots triggered by the arrest of former prime minister Imran Khan.
Abdul Latif, a Member of the National Assembly from the PTI party representing Chitral, was convicted in absentia alongside ten co-defendants.
Judge Tahir Abbas Sipra of the Anti-Terrorism Court Special Court-II, Islamabad imposed the cumulative sentence for charges including terrorism, attempted murder, and vandalism during the May 9, 2023 attack on Islamabad’s Ramna police station. The sentences will run concurrently, with each defendant fined Rs327,000.
Latif faces automatic disqualification from parliament for five years.
“You are accused of attacking the Ramna Police Station in Islamabad,” Judge Sipra stated during the verdict delivery. “If you attack your own police stations, the country will no longer be livable.”
Judge Sipra emphasised that protests must remain peaceful, adding that participants “should never take the law into their own hands.” The convictions relied on testimonies from 20 prosecution witnesses, including magistrates.
The court imposed multiple specific sentences: ten years of rigorous imprisonment and a 200,000 rupee fine under the Anti-Terrorism Act’s Section 7 for terrorism; five years imprisonment plus a 50,000 rupee fine under Pakistan Penal Code Section 324 for attempted murder of police personnel; four years imprisonment with a 40,000 rupee fine under PPC Section 426 for burning a motorcycle; and another four-year sentence with a 40,000 rupee fine under PPC Section 440 for vandalizing the police station. Additional sentences included three months for obstructing police under Section 186, one month for unlawful assembly under Section 144, and two years for group crime under Section 149.
Police immediately took four convicted defendants present in court—Mira Khan, Muhammad Akram, Shahzeb, and Sohail Khan—into custody. Arrest warrants were issued for the absent Latif and six others: Zariyab Khan, Meera Khan, Sameol Robert, Wazeerzada, Abdul Basit, Shan Ali, and Muhammad Yousaf.
The convictions stem from the May 9, 2023 riots that erupted nationwide after Khan was briefly arrested in a land fraud case. His supporters clashed with the police and Rangers, set fire to vehicles and public property, and attempted to storm the headquarters of the military and the Inter-Services Intelligence, the country’s powerful spy agency. They also attacked the residence of a top general in Lahore. Thousands of PTI supporters, including its senior leaders, have been arrested.
The violence was condemned by the military as a “dark chapter” in the country’s history. The military has since vowed to bring to justice all those involved in the violence. Khan has consistently distanced his party from the protests, alleging they were pre-planned and staged to launch a crackdown on his party.
The An anti-terrorism court’s verdict follows broader judicial actions, including December 2024 military court sentences for 85 civilians involved in attacking military installations during the same unrest, with terms ranging from two to ten years. Among those receiving ten-year military sentences was Khan’s nephew, Hassan Khan Niazi. Pakistan’s military later pardoned 19 of those convicts on “humanitarian grounds”.
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