ISLAMABAD, Feb 19: The case against PPP activists accused of attacking the Parliament House in April 1998 will be heard in the court of senior civil judge Islamabad on Monday.

About 50 activists of the party including MNAs Naheed Khan and Nayyer Bokhari, MLA Azad Kashmir Shahzadi Kausar Gillani, Senator Farhatullah Babar and Qazi Sultan Mahmood have been charged with storming the parliament building and threatening the National Assembly speaker.

The case was registered on April 22, 1998, when PPP activists staged a protest rally outside the Parliament House against the anti-terrorism legislation, which gave sweeping powers to the executive. The demonstrators were forcibly dispersed when the police resorted to baton-charge resulting in injuries to many PPP workers and activists.

The protesters were demanding review of the law. A large number of them were arrested and sent to jail.

All were initially booked under the anti-terror law against which they were protesting. However, later the government withdrew the terrorism charges and booked the protesters under eight different sections of the Criminal Procedure Code.