Pak court sentences 17 Imran Khan’s supporters to 10 years each in prison over 2023 riots

A Pakistani court sentenced 17 PTI leaders and supporters, including ex-ministers, to 10 years in prison for their role in the May 9, 2023 riots. PTI condemned the verdict as politically motivated and aimed at silencing opposition voices

Lahore: A Pakistani court has handed down jail terms of 10 years each to 17 supporters of former prime minister Imran Khan in a 2023 riot case.

Anti-Terrorism Court Lahore Judge Manzer Ali Gill pronounced the verdict inside Kot Lakhpat Jail here on Tuesday in the case related to torching a Supreme Court judge squad’s vehicle in the city during May 9, 2023, protests, which erupted after the arrest of Khan by Pakistan Rangers.

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Among the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders convicted were former Punjab ministers Yasmin Rashid and Mian Mehmoodur Rashid; former Punjab governor Omer Sarfraz Cheema; and former senator Ejaz Chaudhry.

The court also sentenced fashion designer Khadija Shah, a granddaughter of former army chief Asif Nawaz Janjua, to a five-year jail term in the same case.

According to a court official, former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and 20 others were acquitted in the case.

This is the fourth May 9-related case in Lahore in which Qureshi was acquitted, while Rashid, Cheema, Chaudhry and Rashid were convicted.

The PTI strongly condemned the verdict, describing it as politically motivated.

“This judgment on the events of May 9 against PTI leaders defies both evidence and jurisprudential integrity. It appears that delivering judgments against PTI has become the only means of survival within the judiciary.

“Such a pronouncement, stripped of coherence and devoid of impartiality, stands as a disgrace to the very principles of justice it claims to uphold,” PTI senior leader Zulfi Bokhari said in a statement.

He said the verdict is “purely political, a tool of intimidation designed to suppress Khan’s “unparalleled popularity” and “silence democratic voices through fear rather than law”.

On May 9, 2023, PTI supporters staged protests throughout the country against the arrest of Khan and attacked military installations and state-owned buildings.

Following the riots, around 10,000 PTI supporters were arrested.