Court Clears Qureshi, Others Sentenced Including Yasmin Rashid

An anti-terrorism court in Lahore has acquitted senior Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi along with five other individuals in the May 9 riots case, while sentencing Dr. Yasmin Rashid and three other senior PTI leaders to 10 years in prison.

The decision was announced by Judge Arshad Javed inside Kot Lakhpat Jail after a jail trial related to the Sherpao Bridge arson case from May 9, 2023. Among those acquitted were Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Hamza Azim, Iftikhar Ahmed, Rana Tanveer, and two others.

Nine accused were convicted and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment each. Those sentenced include Dr. Yasmin Rashid, Mian Mehmood ur Rasheed, Ijaz Chaudhry, Omer Sarfraz Cheema, Khalid Qayyum, Riaz Hussain, Ali Hassan, and Afzal Azim Pahat. The case was tried based on an FIR registered at Sarwar Road Police Station, with terrorism and other serious charges. During the proceedings, the court recorded testimonies from 61 witnesses.

Earlier the same day, an anti-terrorism court in Sargodha sentenced Punjab Assembly Opposition Leader Malik Ahmad Khan Bhachar, MNA Ahmed Chattha, and 30 other PTI workers to 10 years in jail in a separate case related to riots in Mianwali.

The May 9, 2023 riots followed the arrest of former Prime Minister Imran Khan from Islamabad High Court in the Al-Qadir Trust case. Violent protests broke out nationwide. In Lahore, the PML-N office in Model Town was set ablaze, and military and private installations were attacked. Protesters also stormed the Corps Commander’s House (Jinnah House) and broke into the gate of the GHQ in Rawalpindi.

At least eight people lost their lives and more than 290 were injured during the chaos. Over 1,900 people were arrested across the country in connection with the violence. Multiple cases were filed against PTI leaders and supporters in military and anti-terrorism courts.