File photo of KP C.M. Ali Amin Gandapur
An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Rawalpindi on Tuesday issued non-bailable arrest warrants for Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur as well as several other Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders in a case related to the May 9 riots.
Issuing the warrant, ATC Judge Malik Ejaz Asif ordered authorities concerned to produce the chief minister and all other accused before the court on April 2.
Apart from Gandapur, warrants were also issued for Murad Saeed, Shibli Faraz, Shahbaz Gill, and Lt. Col. (retd.) Shabbir Awan, as well as former PTI leaders Shireen Mazari, Musarrat Jamshed Cheema and Saad Jamil Abbasi.
The case pertains to the rioting on May 9 and was registered against the accused in light of statements recorded by suspects Wasiq Qayyum, Umer Tanveer Butt and Sadaqat Abbasi.
In a statement on the warrants for the KP chief minister, Adviser to the C.M. on Information Mohammad Saif criticized the federal government, accusing it of lodging “fake cases” against PTI leaders. Vowing to take action, as per law, on all such cases filed against PTI leaders, he claimed the courts were “discriminating” against the PTI, as no action was taken against Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz’s brothers for alleged corruption.
On Tuesday, a court dismissed the cases against Hassan and Hussain Nawaz, acquitting them of all charges in the corruption case. Also on Tuesday, a separate court dismissed a case against PTI founder Imran Khan over vandalism during his party’s 2022 long march on Islamabad, acquitting him of all charges.
The May 9 riots were triggered by the arrest of Khan in the £190 million settlement case, with protesters—primarily belonging to the PTI—attacking civil and military installations, vandalizing them and committing arson. Following the riots, hundreds of PTI workers and senior leaders were arrested for their alleged involvement in violence and attacks on state assets, with the cases of a majority still pending before various courts.