- Omar Ayub, others booked in 2024 PTI protest case.
- ATC Judge Tahir Abbas Sipra issues arrest warrant.
- Next hearing in Shahzad Town protest case set for July 30.
ISLAMABAD: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Islamabad on Thursday issued a bailable arrest warrant for Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Omar Ayub Khan in connection with a PTI protest held in October last year.
The case was registered at Shahzad Town police station against Ayub and other PTI leaders following clashes between the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporters and police on October 4, 2024.
ATC Judge Tahir Abbas Sipra issued a bailable arrest warrant for the opposition leader and cancelled any previous bail granted to suspects who failed to appear.
However, Senator Azam Swati was granted an exemption from personal attendance, following a request submitted the previous day.
The court adjourned further proceedings until July 30.
Today’s development follows recent anti-terrorism court rulings that handed down prison sentences of up to 10 years to senior PTI leaders in connection with the May 9, 2023, riots.
An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Tuesday sentenced several PTI leaders, including Dr Yasmin Rashid and Mian Mehmood ur Rasheed, to 10 years in prison each in connection with the May 9 case.
The court also awarded sentences to former Punjab governor Omar Sarfraz Cheema, PTI Senator Ejaz Chaudhry, and Afzal Azeem Pahat in the same case.
However, the court acquitted former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Hamza Azeem Pahat, Rana Tanveer, and Aizaz Rafiq in the case.
The same day ATC in Sargodha also sentenced Punjab Assembly Opposition Leader Ahmed Khan Bachar, MNA Mohammad Ahmed Chattha and several other PTI workers to 10 years each in prison in a vandalism case related to May 9 riots.
