Supreme Court granted bail to suspects involved in May 9 riots
The Supreme Court of Pakistan (SC) has granted bail to suspects involved in the May 9 riots following Imran Khan’s arrest. The riots erupted on May 9, 2023, when former prime minister Imran Khan was arrested in the Al-Qadir Trust case.
Law enforcement officials also arrested several political leaders and workers of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) for their alleged involvement in damaging and attacking state property.
A three-member court bench led by Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail heard the post-arrest bail petitions. Hasan Azhar Rizvi and Justice Mussarat Hilali also accompanied Justice Jamal Khan in this case.
Justice Jamal Khan passed remarks while hearing bail petitions for individuals that authorities were not prosecuting real terrorists but rather individuals who hold political protests. Hence, the Supreme Court bench granted bail to five suspects involved in the May 9 riots.
However, the Supreme Court allowed the bail in exchange for Rs.50,000 surety bonds per individual. It further directed the trial court to pass a verdict without biasedness.
The petitioners were Owais, Saifullah, Nasrullah, Kamran, and Waqas whom authorities charged with violence and vandalism counts between May 9 and May 10.
Justice Jamal Khan found gaps in investigations by law enforcement officials during today’s hearing. He discussed the controversial terrorism provision in the first information report (FIR).
Click here to find out why Imran Khan wrote a letter to the IMF about not giving a loan to Pakistan
Justice Jamal addressed authorities saying Do you know in what circumstances the anti-terrorism provisions are used? He then provided examples of terror incidents including Army Public School attacks. He also gave an example of attacks on lawyers in Quetta.
Furthermore, Justice Jamal said to fight political games in the political arena, don’t fight political battles in courts. He also said if authorities could not recover a weapon from suspects. So, the police could not include relevant terrorism provisions in the FIR.
Justice Hasan then stated all of the witnesses were police officials. The witnesses can also be police officers but they must share evidence.
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