KARACHI: The Lahore Anti-Terrrorism Court (ATC) on Tuesday acquitted PTI leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi while sentencing Dr Yasmin Rashid, Ejaz Chaudhry and others to 10 years in prison over a May 9 riots case related to violence on Sherpao Bridge, Lahore.
Following the arrest of ex-premier Imran Khan on May 9, 2023, from the Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) premises, riots erupted across the country and went on for at least 24 hours. Protesters vandalised and torched government buildings and military installations, while also breaking into the residence of the Lahore corps commander. The state subsequently launched a crackdown against him and his party, filing several other cases against Imran and party leaders since the events of May 9.
Sarwar Road police had registered a case against PTI leaders and workers on charges of ransacking and burning public property at Sherpao Bridge in the Cantonment area during the violent protests.
Advocate Burhan Moazzam Malik, the lead defence counsel, confirmed sentencing.
He said Yasmin, former provincial minister Mian Mehmoodur Rashid, Senator Chaudhry and former Punjab governor Omar Sarfraz Cheema were among those sentenced to 10 years in prison. The others were Khalid Qayyum, Riyaz Hussain, Ali Hassan and Afzal Azeem Pahat.
Addressing a press conference soon after the development emerged, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said there was now “an addition to the controversial cases of Pakistan’s judiciary” after today’s legal developments.
Noting Qureshi’s acquittal, he said Chaudhry, Dr Yasmin, Mian Mian Mehmoodur and Cheema were sentenced to 10 years “without fulfilling the requirements of the law”.
He criticised the jail trial proceedings and said it would not bode well for the country, causing public disillusionment in the courts.
Blasting the verdict, PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja said an “edifice of lies” was constructed and the matter no longer concerned just the party but the entire nation, saying that institutions and courts were being destroyed. He called the verdict a “joke and attack on democracy”.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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