Rawalpindi: The Anti-Terrorism Court has sentenced 47 declared accused to 10 years in prison and a fine of Rs 5.5 million each in the May 9 GHQ attack case.
The court has also ordered the confiscation of the movable and immovable properties of the accused. This decision was given by Anti-Terrorism Court Judge Amjad Ali Shah.
The accused convicted by the court include Omar Ayub Khan, Zartaj Gul, Murad Saeed, Shibli Faraz, Ahmed Azhar, Shahbaz Gul, Zulfi Bukhari, Muhammad Ahmed Chatha, Rai Hassan Nawaz, Rai Muhammad Murtaza, Shaukat Ali Bhatti, Usman Saeed Basra and Ijaz Khan Jazi among others. The convicted accused also include Kanwal Shozab, Hammad Azhar and Sheikh Rashid Shafiq.
According to the court’s decision, all 47 accused were declared absconders and were ordered to serve 10 years in prison and pay a fine of Rs 500,000 as per the law.
The decision further stated that in case of non-payment of the fine, the accused will have to serve further imprisonment while their properties will also be confiscated.
The court’s decision stated that the convicted accused were found involved in the conspiracy of the May 9 incidents. According to the JIT report, the accused were involved in planning violent protests and were declared to be central players in planning the May 9 incidents.
According to the decision, the convicted accused were found involved in attacks on GHQ Gate, Hamza Camp, Army Museum and Sixth Road Metro Station, while they were also charged with arson, vandalism, attacks on police and damage to government property.
The court said in its decision that a total of 118 accused, including the founder of PTI and Shah Mehmood Qureshi, were indicted in this case. The indictment was filed in December 2024.
So far, statements of 44 prosecution witnesses have been recorded in the case. According to the verdict, out of 118 accused, 18 accused were continuously absent from the court during the trial, while 29 accused never appeared in court after the case was registered.
The court conducted a separate trial of 47 declared accused under Section 21L of the Anti-Terrorism Act. According to the verdict, the prosecution filed a petition for action against the declared accused under Section 19/10 on January 6 this year, on which the court constituted an inquiry.
In the court inquiry, 47 accused were declared as wilful absconders, after which, in the light of the inquiry report, the court issued an advertisement in the newspaper and on January 8, the advertisement of the absconding accused was published.
The court gave the accused who were declared as proclaimed offenders an opportunity to surrender before the court within 7 days, however, despite the court orders and the advertisement, none of the accused appeared in court.
Later, the court appointed a state counsel for the proclaimed offenders and framed charges against them. During this, the prosecution recorded the statements of 19 witnesses in the court, while the state counsel also cross-examined the prosecution witnesses.
After the trial of 47 proclaimed offenders was completed, the court pronounced the verdict and ordered all the accused to be imprisoned for 10 years, fined Rs. 5.5 lakh, and confiscated their properties.
It should be remembered that the case of the May 9 GHQ attack was registered at the RA Bazar police station.