An anti -terrorism court (ATC) in Rawalpindi dismissed on Friday the supplication of the PTI that challenged the decision to make the founder of the imprisoned party Imran Khan appeared in the trial procedures of the Attack case of the General Headquarters (GHQ) through a video link.
Imran’s arrest on May 9, 2023 caused violent protests throughout the country, during which state buildings and military facilities, including GHQ, were set on fire and destroyed.
He was expected to attend today’s hearing at the ATC through a video link, but his lawyer argued before Judge Amjad Ali Shah against this agreement in the request of the PTI.
For his part, prosecutor Zaheer Shah argued that the trial procedures were transferred to the ATC from the Adiala prison, where Imran is imprisoned, in the Executive Order of the Punjab Government. “The authority to review the executive order falls to the Constitutional Court,” he added.
In addition, he argued that in 2016, the Code of Criminal Procedure was amended to allow the suspects to appear before the courts through a video link.
Shah also summoned sections 15 and 21 of the Anti -Terror Law, saying that they authorized the courts to make “decisions regarding the judgments.” He added that the government “was not obliged” to give a reason to transfer the trial.
The prosecutor said that submitting an application against the appearance of Imran through the video link “is equivalent to creating obstacles in the trial and wasting time.” He said it was the right of the defense lawyer to approach the Superior Court against the notification to transfer the trial procedures from the jail to the ATC, but the trial could not stop.
During his arguments, Imran’s lawyer, Faisal Malik said: “We demand a fair trial of the Court.” He added that a fair trial was conditioned to the defendant being physically present in the court.
He informed the ATC that they had received a copy of the notification of the provincial government yesterday, and that they would address the Superior Court against it.
Then, the judge asked Malik if he wanted to present more arguments on the matter.
In that, the defense lawyer sought some time to consult with his legal team.
The court then postponed the hearing for half an hour.
When the audience resumed, the testimony of two witnesses of prosecution was recorded, the sub -inspector Salem Qureshi and the sub -inspector Manzoor Shahzad.
The witnesses presented 13 USB units containing video clips to the court.
“Forty videos of the founder of PTI related to May 9 were downloaded, witnesses said in their statements.
Khakhar, Shehryar Afridi, Umar Tanveer, Sadqat Abbasi and Sikandar Mirza’s video clips, along with cuts from several national newspapers, were in the USB units.
“The digital evidence was obtained from the CCTV cameras installed in Benazir Bhutto Road, Mall Road, Liaquat Bagh and in adjacent areas,” witnesses added.
The court dismissed the declaration that challenged the appearance of Imran in person; However, he declared that the founder of PTI could appear before the court according to a notification of the Punjab government.
The Court convened 10 more witnesses of the Electronic Media Regulatory Authority of Pakistan, the Federal Investigation Agency, the PTI, the Press Information Department, Internal Security and the Ministry of Interior to register its statements at the next hearing, scheduled for September 23.
Yesterday, said a police spokesman Sunrise This security will be reinforced around Rawalpindi ATC on Friday during the audience of the GHQ attack case.
Imran was accused in the case on December 5 of last year. The founder of PTI, who has been imprisoned in the Adial prison since August 2023, was arrested by the Rawalpindi Police in the case of protest of May 9 in January 2024.
More to follow
