RAWALPINDI: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Rawalpindi on Saturday sentenced 47 proclaimed offenders, including prominent PTI leaders Hammad Azhar, Omar Ayub and Zartaj Gul, to 10 years in prison in the May 9 GHQ attack case.

District and Sessions Judge Amjad Ali Shah, who presided over ATC No. 1, penned a 16-page detailed judgment, which is available with Dawn.

The convicts included Senator Shibli Faraz, Murad Saeed, Shahbaz Gill, Zulfi Bukhari, as well as ex-MNAs Kanwal Shauzab, Rai Hassan Nawaz, Muhammad Ahmed Chattha and Sheikh Rashid Shafique.

The court imposed a fine of Rs500,000 each and ordered the confiscation of their property in favour of the state.

Imran Khan’s arrest on May 9, 2023, triggered widespread riots across Pakistan, during which government buildings and military installations — including the GHQ in Rawalpindi — were stormed and vandalised. Following the unrest, a crackdown was launched against the PTI, with dozens of terrorism cases lodged against its leaders and supporters.

Several of those sentenced, including Ayub, Faraz, Gul, Nawaz and Chathha, have already been convicted in other May 9 cases, resulting in their disqualification from public office.

Other convicts included Rai Muhammad Murtaza Iqbal, Shoukat Ali Bhatti, Usman Saeed Basra, Ijaz Khan Jazi, Malik Abid Hussain, Zahid Abbas Choudhary, Faisal Mukhtar, and Muzamil Masood Bhatti, among others.

The court noted that, as per the Joint Investigation Team’s (JIT) report, the accused were found to be involved in planning the violent incidents of May 9. The verdict stated that the accused were also involved in attacks on GHQ Gate No 1, Hamza Camp, the Army Museum and the Sixth Road Metro Station.

“The charges of arson, vandalism, attacks on police officials and damage to government property were proven against the accused,” the court observed.

A total of 118 accused, including Imran and Shah Mahmood Qureshi, were indicted in the case, while statements of 44 prosecution witnesses have been recorded so far, according to the verdict.

The court said out of the 118 accused, 18 continuously remained absent during the trial, while 29 never appeared in court after the case was registered.

A separate trial was subsequently conducted for the 47 proclaimed offenders under Section 21L (punishment for an absconder) of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.

Imran was indicted in the case on Dec 5, 2024. The PTI founder, who has been incarcerated since Aug 5, 2023, was formally arrested by the Rawalpindi police in the GHQ attack case in January 2024.

The court directed that conviction warrants be sent to Rawalpindi’s Central Jail and the RA Bazar station house officer (SHO), with direction that as and when the accused appear or are arrested, they shall be sent directly to jail.

Perpetual non-bailable warrants have also been issued.

The prosecution had filed a petition for action against the proclaimed offenders on January 6 this year, on which the court ordered an inquiry. In the judicial inquiry, all 47 accused were declared wilful absconders.

A proclamation was published in the national daily Nawa-i-Waqt on January 8, giving the accused seven days to surrender before the court. However, none of them appeared.

The court appointed senior counsel Chaudhary Muhammad Masood Amin as state counsel for the accused and framed charges. The prosecution recorded statements of 19 witnesses, while the state counsel cross-examined them.

The convicts are entitled to retrial on merit under Section 19(12) of the ATA if they surrender within two months, or even afterwards on showing good cause for non-appearance, the court clarified.

‘Long unexplained absence always gives an inference of guilt’

In its judgment, the court observed that the first set of accused comprised those “18 politicians of national level” who had “full knowledge of the trial” as they continued attending proceedings conducted at Rawalpindi’s Central Jail and in the courtroom.

“Most of the prosecution witnesses were recorded in their physical presence and in the presence of their counsels of their choice who even raised objections on certain portions of the statements,” the judgment noted.

It added that the prosecution witnesses even inspected the case property in the court, including clubs, petrol bombs, stones and pieces of broken army sculpture recovered from the spot.

Proceedings were regularly reported in national media having global reach as the case involved a former prime minister as a co-accused. Therefore, the court observed, Gill and Bukhari had full knowledge of the trial while abroad and even commented on social media.

“When last few prosecution witnesses remained to be recorded, they wilfully absented themselves to bring the trial to a grinding halt,” the judgment said.

Regarding the remaining 29 accused who never joined the trial, the court noted they had absented themselves even before the trial began.

“Long unexplained absconsion of the accused after involvement in a criminal case always gives an inference of guilt unless proved otherwise,” the court observed.

The judgment extensively referred to international jurisprudence on trials in absentia, citing cases from the US Supreme Court, the UK’s Criminal Justice Act 2003 and the European Court of Human Rights.

It noted that Pakistani law on the subject contained in Section 19(10) of the ATA was on a better footing as it provided the right to counsel and right to retrial upon subsequent appearance.

The May 9 case was registered at the RA Bazar police station following violent protests that erupted after Imran’s arrest in the Al-Qadir Trust case. Protesters had attacked GHQ Gate No 1, ransacked facilities and damaged public property.

Another sad example of vengeful actions: PTI

The PTI termed the sentences “not only contrary to the basic principles of justice”, but also “yet another sad example of vengeful actions in Pakistan’s political history”.

In a statement, it highlighted that several of those convicted were sentenced in absentia.

“These decisions can neither suppress the voice of the people nor stop the party’s democratic struggle,” the PTI stated, announcing that it would pursue all constitutional and legal avenues against the verdict.

“It must regrettably be said that this current decision has further reinforced the impression that the justice system in the country is being used for political aims,” the party contended.

It pointed out that Imran had been imprisoned for a “long time” and the party’s central leaders were being entangled in various cases, adding that the GHQ attack case “appeared to be another link in this chain”.

The PTI demanded that the “chain of political vendetta be stopped immediately, true supremacy of the Constitution and the law be established in the country, and political prisoners be released immediately”.

“The people of Pakistan are wise and well aware of the reality that these ongoing actions in the country are actually a continuation of political engineering,” the statement claimed.