The Anti-Terrorism Court(ATC) of Faisalabad sentenced 59 accused including former opposition leader in the National Assembly Omar Ayub, former opposition leader in the Senate Shibli Faraz, PTI leader Zartaj Gul to 10 years in prison each in the case related to the attack on Rana Sanaullah’s house on May 09 while acquitting former federal minister Fawad Chaudhry and Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s son Zain Qureshi.
The hearing of the attack on the house of Prime Minister’s Advisor Rana Sanaullah was held in the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) Faisalabad on Monday. The court, while delivering its verdict in the attack on Rana Sanaullah’s house, acquitted former federal minister Fawad Chaudhry and PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s son Zain Qureshi. The court sentenced former federal minister Fawad Chaudhry and PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s son Zain Qureshi to 10 years in prison each, in addition to former opposition leaders in the National Assembly and Senate Omar Ayub and Shibli Faraz.
Apart from this, Farah Agha, Kanwal Shozab, Sahibzada Hamid Raza, Sheikh Rashid Shafiq, Rai Murtaza Iqbal and Ismail Sila have also been sentenced to 10 years in prison. The court sentenced Sheikh Rashid Javed and other activists to 3 years in prison. The Anti-Terrorism Court sentenced 75 out of 109 accused in the case, while all the accused were sentenced in their absence. In total, 59 PTI leaders and activists were sentenced to 10 years in prison, while 16 accused were sentenced to 3 years in prison. In addition, the court acquitted 34 accused in the case. It may be recalled that on May 9, 4 cases were registered in Faisalabad in cases of arson, encirclement and vandalism, out of which the verdicts of 3 were announced earlier.
The fourth case was registered at Samanabad police station for the attack and vandalism of Rana Sanaullah’s house, in which 109 people, including the central leadership of PTI, were named. It should be recalled that on May 9, 2023, after the arrest of Imran Khan from the premises of the Islamabad High Court in the Al-Qadir Trust case, PTI held nationwide protests. Meanwhile, in Lahore’s Model Town area, in addition to burning the PML-N office on May 09, military, civil and private installations were set on fire, causing severe damage to government and private property, while at least 8 people were killed and 290 injured.
The protesters also stormed the residence of the Corps Commander in Lahore, also known as Jinnah House, and also broke a gate of the General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi. Subsequently, 1,900 people involved in clashes, vandalism, and arson with law enforcement agencies across the country were arrested, while cases were also registered against Imran Khan and his party leaders and workers.
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