LAHORE: An anti-terrorism court on Saturday issued bailable arrest warrants for Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf social media activist Sanam Javed for skipping the hearing of a May 9 case against her.

ATC Judge Khalid Arshad conducted a jail trial of the Shadman police station attack case against different leaders and workers of the PTI. Sanam and former MNA Rubina Jamil, who have been released on bail, did not appear before the court in jail.

The judge issued bailable arrest warrants for both women, however, withdrew the warrants for Ms Jamil after she appeared before the court.

Separately, the judge dismissed pre-arrest bail petitions of PTI MPAs Hafiz Farhat Abbas and Imtiaz Mahmood Sheikh for non-prosecution in two cases of the May 9 riots.

The lawyers for the MPAs requested a one-time exemption from personal appearance. However, the judge turned down the request, noting that the bail of both petitioners had also been rejected in three other cases a few days ago.

The judge dismissed the bail petitions of both MPAs in the Askari Tower attack and burning police vehicles outside Zaman Park.

Remand

ATC Judge Khalid Arshad on Saturday granted a five-day physical remand of PTI leader Amjad Sohail Khan Niazi in the Jinnah House attack case.

Sarwar Road police produced Niazi before the court and sought his physical remand for investigation.

Niazi was arrested after the court cancelled his pre-arrest bail the other day. He tried to flee the court, but the police had arrested him.

The judge directed the police to produce the suspect again on August 15.

Published in Dawn, August 11th, 2024