Lahore: A Pakistan court on Saturday sentenced four senior leaders of jailed former premier Imran Khan's party to 10-year imprisonment in a case related to the 2023 riots, while it acquitted ex-foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.
Violent protests erupted across the country on May 9, 2023, mainly in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, following the arrest of former cricketer-turned-politician Khan. The protesters vandalised dozens of military installations and state-owned buildings.
Former Punjab governor Omar Sarfraz Cheema, former Punjab health minister Dr Yasmin Rashid, former Punjab minister Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed, and former Senator Ejaz Chaudhry were convicted for their role in attacking and burning police vehicles in Mughalpura area of Lahore.
The verdict, which was reserved on Thursday, was pronounced by Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) Judge Manzer Ali Gill.
The convicts have been lodged in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat Jail since 2023 and have earlier been sentenced in other cases related to the riots.
The ATC acquitted Qureshi and 11 other PTI workers due to a lack of evidence against them. Qureshi has also been in jail since 2023 in multiple other cases.
Khan, 73, has been in Rawalpindi's Adiala Jail since August 2023 in multiple cases.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) categorically rejected the ATC's verdict, calling it a "fake case".
The party, in a statement on Saturday, said the judgment raises "profound concerns about due process, judicial fairness and the integrity of the proceedings".
"Several individuals implicated in May 9-related cases were demonstrably not even present in Pakistan at the time of the alleged incidents," the PTI said.
"Such glaring inconsistencies cast serious doubt on the credibility of the broader legal process surrounding these cases," the statement added.
The party further said the accused were denied the guarantees of a "free and fair trial", with proceedings taking place in an environment marked by "political pressure, restricted access, prolonged detentions and repeated violations of fundamental legal rights".
"The outcome appears less an exercise of justice and more a continuation of a systematic campaign to punish political opponents through the courts," the party claimed.
The party said it will challenge the verdict through available legal and constitutional avenues.
