51 supporters of Imran convicted

Lahore, March 30

A Pakistani court on Saturday convicted 51 supporters of former Prime Minister Imran Khan to five years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) on two counts for their involvement in attacking key military installations last year.

In May last year, Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporters had allegedly attacked several military installations, including the army headquarters in Rawalpindi and the ISI building in Faisalabad, to vent their anger against the arrest of their party founder in a corruption case.

This is the first conviction in the cases registered against the PTI leaders, workers and supporters in connection with the May 9 riots in the country, mostly in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces. The convicts include PTI lawmaker Kaleemullah Khan.

The anti-terrorism court (ATC), Gujranwala handed down a year jail term to 51 supporters of PTI on two counts for attacking the Gujranwala Cantonment (some 80 km from Lahore), law enforcement agencies’ personnel and torching police vehicles. According to a court official, the court also imposed a fine of PKR 10,000 on each of them.