Skip to main content

Punjab caretakers order jail trials of May 9 suspects

LAHORE: The caretaker government of Punjab has ordered jail trials of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leaders and workers for their alleged role in the May 9 riots in different cities of the province, including Lahore, Rawalpindi, Gujra­nwala, Mianwali and Faisalabad.


The home department on Friday issued separate notifications for jail trials in each of the 31 cases registered across the province.


Sources said the decision has been taken in order to maintain law and order and avoid hassle in bringing the suspects to anti-terrorism courts on an almost daily basis. It is easy for the judges to travel to the jail instead of transporting a host of suspects to the courts every day, an official said.








Some critics, however, expressed their apprehensions over the transparency of court proceedings inside the jail, as the media is not given access to cover those trials.



Critics doubt transparency of court proceedings inside jail, where media won’t have access



Joint investigation teams formed to probe May 9 cases have already filed challans (charge sheets) with the trial courts in 12 of the 14 cases in Lahore, including one related to the attack on corps commander’s house.


Police had declared PTI Chairman Imran Khan and over 900 other party leaders and activists guilty of all the offences added to the FIRs. According to the cases, party activists attacked military installations, police vehicles, and other public and private properties, including Askari Tower and the Shadman police station, in large numbers.


In the challans filed before the courts, the prosecution alleged that the violent protests led by the suspects on May 9 were part of a planned conspiracy against the state. It said over “400 pieces of video evidence, including speeches of the PTI chairman, proved that the attacks on military installations and premises in cantonment areas were pre-planned”.


Charges of mutiny and waging a war against the state have been included in these cases and reports from the FIA and intelligence agencies have also been attached with the challans. As many as 368 suspects, including party leaders, have been challaned in the corps commander house attack case alone.


The challan comprises over 3,000 pages, whereas a list of 210 prosecution witnesses has also been compiled. In the Askari Tower case, 65 suspects have been nominated and a list of 55 witnesses has been submitted along with the charges against them.


In a case at the Gulberg police station, five suspects have been nominated and the prosecution filed a list of 36 witnesses.


Published in Dawn, October 7th, 2023


http://dlvr.it/Sx6Spf

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pragmatic steps taken to implement Axle Load Control regime on NH&MP

Islamabad: Ministry of Communications has taken pragmatic steps to implement the Axle Load Control regime on Motorways & National Highways in the country. Sole objective of this move is to control travelling of overloaded vehicles which lead to fatal accidents besides damaging the national asset of road network of billions of rupees.Prior to implementation of axle load control regime, a technical committee was formed, consisting of officers from Ministry of Communications and National Highway Authority which remained in constant contacts with transport community, Members of the Chambers of Commerce and stakeholders hailing from all the provinces. This technical committee visited their offices and held detailed discussions in series of meetings and took them into confidence to facilitate implementation of Axle Load Control regime. The stakeholders assured of their full cooperation and subsequently, implementation of Axle Load Control was realized which is in progress.It is worth to ...
Post a Comment
Read more

CJP questions how ‘clarification order’ made it to website

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa has raised nine questions in a letter to the Supreme Court’s registrar, seeking clarification on how a Sept 14 clarification order was uploaded to the top court’s website. The Sept 14 order, issued by eight judges led by senior puisne judge Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, criticised the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for failing to implement the Supreme Court’s July 12 judgement, which declared the PTI eligible for reserved seats in parliament. In his letter dated Sept 21, the CJP wondered who directed the uploading of the Sept 14 clarification order on the Supreme Court’s website. His inquiry followed a note from the Deputy Registrar (Judicial), who flagged the issue of the order’s appearance on the website. The note questioned how the order was uploaded when no cause list had been issued, no notices had been sent to the parties, and the order had not been received by the deputy registrar’s office until 8pm on the...
Post a Comment
Read more

UN awards 2 Pakistani female peacekeepers for gender advocacy

The United Nations has awarded two Pakistani female peacekeepers with the Gender Advocacy Award for their “outstanding performance”, a statement from the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said. In a statement issued on Thursday, the ISPR said the awards were presented to Major Sania Safdar, part of the UN Peacekeeping Mission in Cyprus, and Major Komal Masood, who served in the Central African Republic, “for their outstanding performance and commitment in promoting the ideals of UN”. The accolades were presented by the under-secretary general in the UN’s Department for Peace Operations at its New York headquarters. “While serving in [an] international environment, both officers demonstrated exceptional professionalism [and] dedication,” the ISPR noted. It added that the two peacekeepers “made [a] significant contribution to Mission’s Peace and Stability efforts, especially with regards to advancing women’s meaningful participation in Peacekeeping Operations within the ...
Post a Comment
Read more