May 9: ATC sentences 11 PTI leaders, workers to 15 years

ISLAMABAD: An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Islamabad on Friday sentenced 11 Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders and workers in the May 9 Ramna police station attack case.

ATC Judge Tahir Abbas Sipra announced the verdict, sentencing PTI MNA Abdul Latif, former MPA Wazir Zada Kailashi, and nine others to 15 years and four months imprisonment in the May 9 cases.

Four accused, Muhammad Akram, Meera Khan, Shahzaib, and Sohail Khan, were present in court and were taken into custody immediately. Arrest warrants were issued for the remaining absconders. Advocate Talat Rizwan Sial represented the convicts in court.

The convicts received a combined sentence of 15 years and four months in prison, along with fines.

The court ruled that the accused had attacked the Ramna police station, fired shots, pelted stones, tried to harm police officers, and set motorcycles on fire as part of their protest.

The judgment said that 24 witnesses recorded statements against the accused, and all suspects were identified through a magistrate-supervised identification parade.

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Judge Sipra warned that if police stations in Islamabad are attacked, no part of the country would remain safe to live in.

For the attempted murder of police officers, the accused were sentenced to five years in jail and fined Rs50,000.

Setting motorcycles on fire earned them four years in prison and a Rs40,000 fine. The arson attack on the police station led to another four-year sentence and an additional Rs40,000 fine.

They were also sentenced to three months for interfering in police duties, one month for violating Section 144, and two years for forming an unlawful assembly. On terrorism charges, they were handed 10 years in prison and fined Rs200,000.