FAISALABAD – An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on Monday announced its verdict in the May 9 case related to the attack on the residence of former interior minister Rana Sanaullah, handing down prison sentences to several senior Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders.
As many as 59 accused including PTI leaders Omar Ayub, Shibli Faraz, Zartaj Gul, Sheikh Rashid Shafique, Rai Murtaza Iqbal, Kanwal Shauzab, Ismail Sila, Anser Iqbal, Bilal Ejaz, Ashraf Sohna, Mehr Javed and Shakeel Niazi, were sentenced to 10 years in jail each.
The court also awarded three years’ imprisonment to 16 other accused while 34 including Fawad Chaudhry and Zain Qureshi, were acquitted.
The sentences were announced in absentia as none of the convicts appeared before the court.
The verdict pertains to the fourth FIR lodged in Faisalabad’s Samanabad Police Station regarding the May 9 riots, which involved attacks, arson and vandalism.
Earlier, the judgments in three other related cases had already been delivered.
The May 9 incident witnessed widespread violence across the country following the arrest of PTI founder Imran Khan, during which public and private properties as well as residences of government officials, came under attack.
