Faisalabad ATC Sentences 108 PTI Leaders Up to 10 Years

A special anti-terrorism court in Faisalabad sentenced 108 Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) members, including senior leaders Omar Ayub Khan and Shibli Faraz, to prison terms of up to 10 years and imposed fines for their roles in the May 9, 2023 protests that targeted military and state installations after Imran Khan’s arrest. The court convicted them on charges of abetment, criminal conspiracy, and related offenses, rather than solely on terrorism charges. Some PTI figures, such as Fawad Chaudhry and Zain Qureshi, were acquitted due to insufficient evidence. The verdicts were delivered just days before planned PTI rallies and have been denounced by the opposition as politically motivated and harmful to Pakistan’s democracy. The May 2023 protests sparked widespread unrest, a crackdown on PTI, thousands of arrests, and the disqualification of several lawmakers. PTI has pledged to contest the verdicts, calling the prosecutions baseless and aimed at undermining the party.