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Business Recorder
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Business Recorder
Ramna police station attack case: IHC acquits four PTI workers
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) accepting appeals of four Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporters, against their sentence awarded in Ramna police station attack, arson and siege case of May 9, ordered to release them. A division bench of Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro and Justice Azam Khan on Thursday heard the appeals against 10-year imprisonment sentence of convict Sohail Khan and others. During the hearing, lawyers Babar Awan, Sardar Masroof, Advocate Amina Ali and others appeared on behalf of the petitioners. PTI founder Imran Khan's sister, Aleema Khan, was also present in court. She met with the workers and other party supporters, expressing strong solidarity with those accused in the May 9 incidents. After hearing the arguments, the IHC bench acquitted the four PTI workers previously convicted in the May 9 Ramna police station attack case. The bench ordered to release them after the prosecution was unable to prove their presence at the scene of the protest based on the witnesses' accounts. The convicts had been charged under Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) Sections 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 (unlawful assembly), 186 (obstructing official duty), 188 (disobeying order of a public servant), 324 (attempted murder), 353 (assault on public servants), 436 (arson) and 440 (mischief); Section 144 of CrPC; and Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), 1997. They were sentenced to 10 years imprisonment under Section 7 ATA, five years under Section 324 of PPC, four under Section 436, two each under Sections 353 and 148. Additionally, the convicts were sentenced to four years in prison and fined Rs40,000 for burning a motorcycle under Section 426 (punishment for mischief); and a separate sentence of four years in prison and a fine of Rs40,000 under Section 440 (mischief committed after preparation made for causing death or hurt) for vandalising a police station. A sentence of three-month imprisonment was imposed for interfering in the work of the police under Section 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), one month for violating Section 144 (joining unlawful assembly armed with a deadly weapon), and two years for committing a crime in a group under Section 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of an offence committed in prosecution of common object). At the onset of the proceedings, Babar Awan argued that out of nine prosecution witnesses, only one witness Assistant Sub-Inspector Muhammad Sharif was able to identify the accused. He contended that while it was alleged that the protesters had resorted to firing, no one was injured. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Express Tribune
25-04-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Imran's party demands end to political crackdown
The PTI on Thursday presented five demands to the government, calling for a transparent legal process, the release of political prisoners, freedom of the media, immediate free and fair elections, and an end to what it termed "fascism" by dropping politically motivated cases. Speaking to the media outside the Islamabad High Court, PTI leader Babar Awan stressed that the ongoing cases against party leaders and workers must be subjected to impartial trials. He warned the government to "open its eyes" and put an end to what he described as "fascist practices." Reiterating PTI's stance, he said selective justice undermines democracy and that true justice must be swift, transparent, and equitable. "Selected courts are being used for selected cases. This is not justice," he stated, adding that the delay in verdicts erodes the very principle of timely justice. Awan demanded independent trials for political cases, release of all political prisoners, freedom of the media, immediate free and fair elections and an end to "fascist tendencies". "Seventy-five to eighty per cent of the nation stands with Imran Khan. The government must wake up and end its fascist tendencies," he said, adding that the cases of Model Town I and II remained mired in prolonged delays. Speaking on the occasion, Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Omar Ayub accused the PML-N of endangering national sovereignty and mismanaging key national security and economic issues. He said every time the Sharif family comes to power, the integrity of the country is threatened.
