ATC Acquits Qureshi, Hands Jail Terms to Other PTI Leaders

News Desk

Lahore: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Monday acquitted PTI leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi but sentenced several party lawmakers, including former Punjab governor Umar Sarfraz Cheema, Dr Yasmin Rashid, Ijaz Chaudhry, and Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed, to 10 years in prison each in two separate cases linked to the May 9 riots.

Aliya Hamza and Sanam Javed were also sentenced to five years imprisonment each.

The verdict, announced at Kot Lakhpat Jail, pertained to two cases: the Shadman Police Station attack and the torching of police vehicles near Jinnah House. The court had earlier reserved its decision after hearing detailed arguments from both sides.

Defence lawyers maintained that no concrete evidence linked the accused to the offences and alleged the cases were politically motivated and based on forged FIRs. Prosecutors argued there was substantial evidence showing the accused incited violence, damaged state property, and set police vehicles ablaze during the unrest.

According to PTI counsel Rana Mudassar Umar, the trials in both the Rahat Bakery arson case and the Shadman Police Station case have concluded. In the Rahat Bakery case, 25 people were named, with seven declared absconders, while in the Shadman case, 12 were tried, five remained in custody, and one had died.