LAHORE: PTI leader and former MNA Zartaj Gul on Saturday filed an appeal in the Lahore High Court (LHC) challenging her 10-year sentence handed down by the Faisalabad Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in a May 9 riots case.
The ATC had, on July 31, sentenced several PTI leaders — including Omar Ayub, Shibli Faraz, and Gul — to 10 years in prison over the May 9, 2023 violence at Civil Lines Police Station. Following the verdict, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) de-notified nine PTI lawmakers, including the three leaders.
Gul, through Barrister Ali Zafar, argued that the sentence was unlawful as she was neither named in the original FIR nor present at the riots site. Her name was added in the supplementary challan, and witnesses had denied her presence at the meeting in question. She requested the court to overturn her conviction.
It is noteworthy that Gul had earlier secured protective bail from the Peshawar High Court (PHC). Separately, Faraz and other PTI leaders have approached the PHC against their disqualification by the ECP.
