May 9 Riots: Military courts sentence 25 civilians to prison term

Military courts have sentenced 25 civilians to prison terms ranging from two to ten years for their involvement in violent attacks on military installations during the May 9, 2023 riots, as per Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement released on Saturday.

The riots, which erupted following the arrest of former Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan from the Islamabad High Court (IHC), led to widespread violence across Pakistan, causing damage to military and public buildings.

The convicted individuals were involved in attacks on key military sites, including Jinnah House, General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi, and the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Base in Mianwali.

According to ISPR, the riots were politically orchestrated violence and arson at multiple places aimed at destabilizing the country.

“Building on a sustained narrative of hate and lies, politically orchestrated attacks were carried out on the installations of the armed forces including desecration of the monuments of shuhada,” ISPR said.

A total of 62 incidents of violence were recorded, causing an estimated loss of Rs2.5 billion to the country, while Rs1.98 billion in damages were incurred by the army.

As per the ISPR media release, these events were a coordinated attack orchestrated by the PTI leadership.

The following 25 people were handed down the sentences, according to the press release:

1. Jan Muhammad Khan s/o Toor Khan, 10 years rigorous imprisonment, involved in Jinnah House incident.
2. Muhammad Imran Mehboob s/o Mehboob Ahmed, 10 years rigorous imprisonment, involved in Jinnah House incident.
3. Raja Muhammad Ehsan s/o Raja Muhammad Maqsood, 10 years rigorous imprisonment, involved in GHQ attack incident.
4. Rehmat Ullah s/o Manjoor Khan, 10 years rigorous imprisonment, involved in Punjab Regimental Centre Mardan incident.
5. Anwar Khan s/o Muhammad Khan, 10 years rigorous imprisonment, involved in PAF Base Mianwali incident.
6. Muhammad Afaq Khan s/o M Ishfaq Khan, 9 years rigorous imprisonment, involved in Bannu Cantt incident.
7. Daud Khan s/o Ameer Zaib, 7 years rigorous imprisonment, involved in Chakdara Fort incident.
8. Faheem Haider s/o Farooq Haider, 6 years rigorous imprisonment, involved in Jinnah House incident.
9. Zahid Khan s/o Muhammad Khan, 4 years rigorous imprisonment, involved in Multan Cantt Check Post incident.
10. Yasir Nawaz s/o Ameer Nawaz Khan, 2 years rigorous imprisonment, involved in Punjab Regimental Centre Mardan incident.
11. Abdul Hadi s/o Abdul Qayyum, 10 years rigorous imprisonment, involved in Jinnah House incident.
12. Ali Shan s/o Noor Muhammad, 10 years rigorous imprisonment, involved in Jinnah House incident.
13. Daud Khan s/o Shad Khan, 10 years rigorous imprisonment, involved in Jinnah House incident.
14. Umar Farooq s/o Muhammad Sabbir, 10 years rigorous imprisonment, involved in GHQ attack incident.
15. Babar Jamal s/o Muhammad Ajmal Khan, 10 years rigorous imprisonment, involved in PAF Base Mianwali incident.
16. Muhammad Hashir Khan s/o Tahir Bashir, 6 years rigorous imprisonment, involved in Jinnah House incident.
17. Muhammad Ashiq Khan s/o Naseeb Khan, 4 years rigorous imprisonment, involved in Jinnah House incident.
18. Khuram Shahzad s/o Liaqat Ali, 3 years rigorous imprisonment, involved in Multan Cantt Check Post incident.
19. Muhammad Bilawal s/o Manzoor Hussain, 2 years rigorous imprisonment, involved in Jinnah House incident.
20. Said Alam s/o Maaz Ullah Khan, 2 years rigorous imprisonment, involved in Punjab Regimental Centre Mardan incident.
21. Laeeq Ahmed s/o Manzoor Ahmed, 2 years rigorous imprisonment, involved in ISI Office Faisalabad incident.
22. Ali Iftikhar s/o Iftikhar Ahmed, 10 years rigorous imprisonment, involved in Jinnah House incident.
23. Zia ur Rehman s/o Azam Khurshid, 10 years rigorous imprisonment, involved in Jinnah House incident.
24. Adnan Ahmed s/o Sher Muhammad, 10 years rigorous imprisonment, involved in Punjab Regimental Centre Mardan incident.
25. Shakir Ullah s/o Anwar Shah, 10 years rigorous imprisonment, involved in Punjab Regimental Centre Mardan incident.

The military emphasized that all the convicts have the right to appeal their sentences.

The convictions were based on thorough investigations and evidence collected during the aftermath of the May 09 riots.

This development came after the Supreme Court (SC) ruling that allowed military courts to pronounce verdicts in cases related to the May 09 riots.

Source: ISPR