PESHAWAR: An anti-terrorism court here on Wednesday acquitted 29 leaders and activists of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, including current and former lawmakers, in a case of last year’s violence that claimed three lives and caused damage to public properties.

Judge Mohammad Iqbal Khan pronounced that the prosecution failed to prove its case against the accused and the evidence on record didn’t connect them with the commission of the offence.

The accused were indicted in June this year after they pleaded not guilty.

Noted among the accused were MNA Arbab Sher Ali, provincial minister Meena Khan Afridi, MPA Fazal Ilahi Khan, former provincial ministers Taimoor Saleem Jhagra and Kamran Bangash, former Peshawar district nazim Arbab Mohammad Asim, former MPAs Arif Yousaf and Wajid Ali, and PTI Senate candidate Irfan Saleem.

Accused included current, former lawmakers

The FIR of the violence was registered at Peshawar’s Khan Raziq Shaheed police station on May 10, 2023, under different provisions of the Pakistan Penal Code and Anti-Terrorism Act.

The complainant in the FIR, sub-inspector Roman Khan, insisted that scores of people gathered near the Balahisar Fort protesting the arrest of PTI leader Imran Khan.

He alleged that the protesters attacked public and private properties, torched an ambulance of the Edhi Foundation, damaged several ATM machines, and smashed the main gate of a women’s college.

The complainant added that the protesters also dismantled grills around the greenbelt outside the fort and resorted to firing that resulted in deaths of three persons.

The police named 29 people in the FIR but later charged more with committing violence amid claims that they’re identified through CCTV footage of the protest. The court granted them pre-arrest or regular bail from time to time.

A few weeks ago, the court acquitted around 100 of the accused after accepting their applications under Section 265-K of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

That provision empowered the court to acquit an accused before the conclusion of the trial if there is no likelihood of his conviction on the basis of available record.

Advocate Ali Zaman appeared for the defense and claimed that the accused were falsely implicated in the case as no evidence was available to connect them with the offence.

He argued that the prosecution had levelled multiple charges against his clients but couldn’t prove any of it.

The lawyer pointed out that the prosecution couldn’t provide a single evidence to prove that those killed in the incident were fired at by the accused. He added that one of the deceased persons had received bullets fired from a Kalashnikov rifle, which was carried by the police.

Mr Zaman argued that the deceased were hit at different spots and the prosecution failed to provide any evidence about the presence of the accused at those spots.

He contended that another charge against the accused was that they had damaged an ambulance of Edhi Foundation and an ATM of a private bank, but no evidence was provided in that regard.

The counsel contended that several cases were registered against the accused which were based on malafide intentions and were politically motivated.

Some other cases related to last year’s violence, including the torching of the Radio Pakistan building and a Chaghi Monument, are still heard by the ATC.

Published in Dawn, October 31st, 2024