ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder and former prime minister Imran Khan was acquitted on Thursday in two cases related to the 9 May violence.
The District and Sessions Court, with Judicial Magistrate Omar Shahab presiding, heard the bail pleas and announced the verdict on the cases registered at Shahzad Town Police Station. The court acquitted Imran Khan in both cases due to insufficient evidence. His counsel, Mirza Asim Beg and Naeem Panjotha, had completed their arguments on the bail pleas.
The First Information Report (FIR) was registered by an unauthorized person, and the PTI founder was charged under Section 109, but no evidence was presented, stated the lawyer.
Previously, former PM Imran Khan had filed a plea seeking acquittal in the May 9 violence cases. His counsel, Naeem Panjutha, appeared before the court and filed the plea for acquittal. Judicial Magistrate Sohaib Bilal inquired about the number of cases against Khan and whether the challan against him had been collected.
Naeem Panjutha informed the court that Imran Khan’s Toshakhanna sentence is suspended, while sentences in the illegal marriage case and cipher case are still pending.
May 9 Violence
Violent clashes erupted across Pakistan after former prime minister Imran Khan was arrested on May 9, 2023. Protests occurred in both remote and major cities as party workers expressed their agitation over their chairman’s arrest. Balochistan, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Islamabad summoned armed forces to ensure law and order.
During the protests, army installations, including the Corps Commander’s house in Lahore, were attacked by PTI workers. It is noteworthy that the PTI founder is named as the main accused in all the May 9 riot cases.
