An Islamabad anti-terrorism court (ATC) suspended a bailable arrest warrant for National Assembly Opposition Leader Omar Ayub on Thursday in a case related to a protest in October last year.
PTI protesters and the Islamabad police clashed on Oct 4, 2024, as hundreds of party activists defied security measures and road blockades to gather at multiple locations days before the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit. Over 100 PTI supporters, along with ex-premier Imran Khan’s two sisters, were taken into custody.
ATC Judge Tahir Abbas Sipra had issued the arrest warrant earlier today as he heard a case filed at the Shahzad Town police station last year.
Advocates Sardar Masroof Khan, Zahid Bashir Dar, Murtaza Toori and Mirza Asim were among the lawyers present on the PTI leaders’ behalf.
During the hearing, Judge Sipra issued a bailable arrest warrant for Ayub and ordered that any previous bail granted to suspects who were absent today be cancelled.
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However, the judge accepted Senator Azam Swati’s plea seeking exemption from attendance, which was filed yesterday, according to Masroof. Subsequently, the hearing was adjourned till July 30.
Later in the day, former law minister Babar Awan appeared as Ayub’s counsel and submitted an application seeking exemption from attendance, along with a medical report.
Awan contended that his client had not received a notice of summons from the court.
The application, a copy of which is available with media.com, said the PTI lawmaker was unable to appear in court due to “ill health” and was advised bed rest.
“The non-appearance of the applicant is neither deliberate nor intentional,” the application stated.
Subsequently, Judge Sipra suspended Ayub’s arrest warrant.
In a video statement yesterday, Advocate Masroof lamented the “speed with which these cases are being heard”.
He noted that some suspects had come from faraway areas such as Azad Kashmir and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Mardan, having no place to stay overnight in Islamabad to attend today’s hearing.
“If these trials will be bulldozed in such a manner and you won’t give them a fair trial, then it will become very difficult for you to fulfil the requirements of justice,” the lawyer said, requesting courts to punish those guilty but not convict those who were not involved.
Today’s development comes within days of two ATCs sentencing PTI bigwigs to as many as 10 years in jail in cases related to the violent May 9, 2023 countrywide riots.
A Lahore ATC handed down at least eight leaders 10-year rigorous imprisonment, while acquitting six others. A Sargodha ATC also convicted as many as 32 accused, including MNA Ahmad Chattha and Punjab Assembly Opposition Leader Ahmed Khan Bhachar.
In May, the Islamabad police’s prosecution nominated the PTI’s top leadership — including Ayub, Chairman Gohar Khan, KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur and Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif — in another case over the October 4 protests filed at the Koral police station.
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Earlier this month, a Lahore ATC also declared PTI’s Hammad Azhar and Rana Shahbaz Ahmed as proclaimed offenders in two cases related to an alleged attack on Punjab police during a simultaneous protest as party workers reached Minar-i-Pakistan despite the government’s security measures.
Other cases over the clashes had also been registered at the Noon and Ramna police stations in the federal capital.
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