PTI rejects military court sentences, awaits Supreme Court’s final verdict

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has rejected the sentences handed down to civilians by military courts in the May 9 case, and the party is awaiting the final verdict of the Supreme Court on the case, here on Saturday.

As per the details, “The final verdict of the Supreme Court regarding the trial of civilians in the military court will be important,” PTI leader Latif Khosa said at a press conference in Lahore on Saturday along with Salman Akram Raja.

Earlier, the Inter-Services Public Relations had announced that military courts have sent at least 25 accused in the May 9 incidents to jail.

The military’s media wing added that the sentences of the remaining accused are also being announced and will be announced soon as and when the due process is completed.

The military courts took this decision after the Supreme Court’s constitution bench last week conditionally allowed them to pronounce the reserved verdicts of 85 civilians who were still in custody for their alleged involvement in the May 9 riots last year.

Khosa claimed that 25 out of 85 people have been given “unconstitutional and illegal decisions”. “No decision is announced while an appeal is pending.”

The PTI leader expressed his desire for a full bench of the Supreme Court to decide the case, saying that “influential circles” have all the evidence.

The plan made in London is still in effect today. The arrest of the PTI founder was part of the same London plan. How did Nawaz Sharif return? It was done through biometric checks at the airport. It was all part of the London plan. Even our election symbol has been taken away from us.

PTI leaders have demanded the formation of a judicial commission, saying that former Prime Minister Imran Khan was arrested from the biometric room on May 9. They stressed that the Supreme Court had declared the arrest illegal, citing court orders that arrests cannot be made inside the court premises.

“We were not involved in any act of sabotage. The founding chairman of PTI has always called for peaceful protests. Not a single leaf or flowerpot was broken during our protests,” Khosa said.

He said 20 people were released as their sentences had expired while 25 others were sentenced to 10 years in prison. Those convicted have now been sent to jail.

Khosa reiterated that the final verdict of the Supreme Court on the appeal would be crucial. We are confident that civilian cases will not be tried in military courts. Calling military courts courts is an insult to the judiciary. It undermines the spirit of justice.”

The PTI leader claimed that trials of civilians in military courts are extrajudicial and the entire world acknowledges that justice cannot be delivered through military courts. He added that the government would not allow “any encroachment on the rights of the people.”