LAHORE: The caretaker government of Punjab has ordered jail trials of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leaders and workers for their alleged role in the May 9 riots in different cities of the province, including Lahore, Rawalpindi, Gujra­nwala, Mianwali and Faisalabad.

The home department on Friday issued separate notifications for jail trials in each of the 31 cases registered across the province.

Sources said the decision has been taken in order to maintain law and order and avoid hassle in bringing the suspects to anti-terrorism courts on an almost daily basis. It is easy for the judges to travel to the jail instead of transporting a host of suspects to the courts every day, an official said.

Some critics, however, expressed their apprehensions over the transparency of court proceedings inside the jail, as the media is not given access to cover those trials.

Critics doubt transparency of court proceedings inside jail, where media won’t have access

Joint investigation teams formed to probe May 9 cases have already filed challans (charge sheets) with the trial courts in 12 of the 14 cases in Lahore, including one related to the attack on corps commander’s house.

Police had declared PTI Chairman Imran Khan and over 900 other party leaders and activists guilty of all the offences added to the FIRs. According to the cases, party activists attacked military installations, police vehicles, and other public and private properties, including Askari Tower and the Shadman police station, in large numbers.

In the challans filed before the courts, the prosecution alleged that the violent protests led by the suspects on May 9 were part of a planned conspiracy against the state. It said over “400 pieces of video evidence, including speeches of the PTI chairman, proved that the attacks on military installations and premises in cantonment areas were pre-planned”.

Charges of mutiny and waging a war against the state have been included in these cases and reports from the FIA and intelligence agencies have also been attached with the challans. As many as 368 suspects, including party leaders, have been challaned in the corps commander house attack case alone.

The challan comprises over 3,000 pages, whereas a list of 210 prosecution witnesses has also been compiled. In the Askari Tower case, 65 suspects have been nominated and a list of 55 witnesses has been submitted along with the charges against them.

In a case at the Gulberg police station, five suspects have been nominated and the prosecution filed a list of 36 witnesses.

Published in Dawn, October 7th, 2023