An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Lahore on Wednesday granted bail to PTI founder Imran Khan’s nephew Shahrez Khan in a case pertaining to the Jinnah House attack during the May 9, 2023, riots.

ATC Judge Manzer Ali Gill announced the verdict that was reserved earlier today on Shahrez’s bail petition and ordered his release subject to paying a surety bond set at Rs100,000. Shahrez’s lawyer, Advocate Rana Mudassar, confirmed the development to Dawn.com and PTI lawyer Taimur Malik also said the same.

Lahore Police had picked up Shahrez, son of Imran’s sister Aleema Khan, from his mother’s Lahore residence on August 21. His brother Shershah Khan was also arrested the next day over similar allegations, and sent on physical remand and then to jail.

Shahrez was sent on 14-day judicial remand by the Lahore ATC on August 30.

During today’s hearing on Shahrez’s bail petition, Advocate Mudassar argued that the athlete was accused of inciting party workers, adding that the investigation was approached from multiple angles, with geo-fencing carried out as well, and yet no evidence was found against Imran’s nephew.

“Everything is clear in the challan, it mentions named and unnamed suspects but Shahrez is not mentioned at all, no investigator gave any statement. He was arrested after 28 months and his mother — the PTI founder’s sister — is raising her voice for his release. This arrest was made to suppress their voice,” he said.

The lawyer argued that Shahrez was in Chitral during the riots and several people had submitted affidavits in this regard. He said the athlete was also due to go abroad to compete in a sporting event.

Amnesty International and the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan had expressed their concerns over the arrests, with the former terming them a “political witch-hunt”.

Shahrez’s wife has said her husband was in Chitral with her family on May 9, 2023, sharing purported pictures from the trip. At the same time, the PTI had challenged a video being shared of Shahrez, stating it was from the party’s public meeting in Kahna held on Sept 21, 2024, not from the 2023 riots.

Minister of State for Interior Tallal Chaudhry had defended the arrests, saying they could not be chalked off as “fake, fabricated [or] politically motivated”.

On May 9, 2023, PTI supporters, protesting Imran’s arrest, staged violent protests throughout the country, vandalising military installations and state-owned buildings, while also attacking the Lahore corps commander’s residence.

Following the riots, the state launched a crackdown on the PTI, with thousands of protesters and top party leadership arrested. Scores of PTI leaders have recently been convicted in cases over the riots and disqualified from their parliamentary roles.