An anti -terrorism court (ATC) in Lahore on Saturday sent on Saturday to the nephew of the founder of PTI, Imran Khan, Shahrez Khan to jail in a judicial return in a case related to the attack of the Jinnah house during the riots of May 9, 2023.
Lahore’s police picked up Shahrez, son of Imran’s sister, Aleema Khan, from the Lahore residence of her mother on August 21. His brother Shershah Khan was also arrested the next day by similar accusations, and sent to a physical remission and then to jail.
The Lahore police presented Shahrez before the Court of the Judge of Atc Manzer Ali Gill today at the end of his eight -day physical prison.
The lawyer Rana Mudassar Uumer and the general secretary of PTI Salman Akram Raja appeared as Shahrez’s lawyer, while Imtiaz Ahmad Sipra was present as a prosecutor.
Sipra sought additional physical custody of Shahrez’s 30 days, while Uumer urged the court to download his client from the case. Judge Gill denied the police application and ordered that Shahrez be sent to jail with a 14 -day judicial return.
“A cane of the suspect possession has been recovered,” the officer told the court, adding that Shahrez’s photogrammetry test had also been carried out.
“Additional investigation of the incident must be completed. Therefore, a new return can be given,” said Sipra. He also said that Shahrez’s social media accounts must also be verified, according to today’s court order, seen by Dawn.com.
Meanwhile, the Uumer lawyer filed a statement of bail by Shahrez before the ATC. “The suspect was not recovered. The investigation has been completed,” said the petition.
When qualifying the arrest of “illegal” Shahrez, the statement asked the court to order the release of the triathlete.
‘In Chitral on May 9’
Shahrez’s lawyers presented photocopies of affidavits of seven people who traveled with him or resided in Chitral on May 9, according to the court order.
“The learned defense councils representing the accused during the course of the arguments have offered some photographs, affidavits and details of the defendant’s foreign trips,” said the court order, added that the defense lawyers had argued that Shahrez was not in Lahore from May 7 to 12, 2023, but in Chitral.
According to the order, the investigating officer was asked if he had considered the evidence, to which he replied that the documents were presented around 12 am, therefore, he could not verify or investigate them.
“This court is the opinion that the verification of social networks accounts, air travel history and the defendant’s participation in international sporting events could be easily verified through Google, social networks and newspapers, etc., without detaining those accused in physical remission.”
Judge Gill ordered that Shahrez be filed before the court on September 13 and ordered the IO to present the charging sheet by then.
During the hearing, the Uumer lawyer said that the suspect was not present at Lahore on May 9, 2023, but was with family and friends at Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s chitral.
“The statement of the hotel manager where he stayed is also available,” said Uumer.
“The suspect has been involved in this [case] Because he is the nephew of the founder of PTI, ”said the lawyer. He added that no statement of Shahrez’s inclusion in the case was part of the registry.
“Aleem Khan raises his voice for the launch of PTI’s founder. Aleema Khan’s son has been arrested to silence his voice,” said Uumer.
Amnesty International and the Pakistan Human Rights Commission have expressed their concerns about the arrests of Shahrez and Sherhah, and the first qualifies them as a “political witch hunt.”
Shahrez’s wife said her husband was in Chitral with her family on May 9, 2023, sharing the alleged photos of the trip. At the same time, the PTI has challenged a video that is shared by Shahrez, stating that it was from the public meeting of the party in Kahna held on September 21, 2024, not of the 2023 disturbances.
Minister of State Tallal Chaudhry had defended arrests last week, saying that they could not be marked as “false, manufactured [or] Politically motivated. ”
On May 9, 2023, PTI supporters, who protested the arrest of Imran, organized violent protests throughout the country, destroying military facilities and state buildings, while attacked the residence of the commander of Lahore’s body.
After the riots, the State launched an offensive against the PTI, with thousands of protesters and the leadership of the best arrested games. Dozens of PTI leaders have been recently convicted in cases by the riots and disqualified of their parliamentary roles.
