ISLAMABAD: At a time when the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) is once again planning to protest in the federal capital, the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) of Islamabad on Friday repeated warrants for the arrest of PTI chief Imran Khan, Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chairman Dr Tahirul Qadri and 70 others for attacking the state-run Pakistan Television during the 2014 sit-in.

Besides Mr Khan and Dr Qadri, the court repeated the arrest warrants for PTI’s vice chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Asad Umar and Awami Muslim League chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmad.

ATC judge Syed Kausar Abbas Zaidi directed police to produce the suspects in court on Nov 17.

Meanwhile, six suspects who appeared in court were granted exemption from personal appearance in the hearings.

The warrants were issued in two separate FIRs by the Secretariat police and others for attacking Parliament House and the PTV headquarters on Aug 31 and Sept 1, 2014, respectively.

Police ordered to produce PTI, PAT leaders in court in cases involving 2014 attack on PTV

The ATC issued warrants for several suspects who failed to appear in court in cases pertaining to attacks on the PTV headquarters and Parliament House.

It may be mentioned here that in November last year the court had declared Mr Khan, Dr Qadri and others proclaimed offenders in cases involving attacks on the the PTV headquarters, Parliament House and Senior Superintendent of Islamabad Police Asmatullah Junejo.

However, the capital police could not execute the arrest warrants and take the accused in custody despite repeated directives of the ATC on each date of hearing of the cases. Nor the accused, including Mr Khan or Dr Qadri, appeared before the court.

Sources close to the PTI chief claimed that Mr Khan believed that these cases were politically motivated and the government had implicated him for victimisation. Therefore, he does not appear before the court to contest the allegations.

However, several PTI workers who were also booked in connection with these cases appear before the court on regular intervals.

Advocate Faisal Hussain, the counsel for PTIs workers, said that he on behalf of his clients had moved an application to quash the FIR in this case.

He said that the police invoked sections of Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), 1997, in cases against poor party workers as well as political personalities, adding that since there was no reason to keep these cases alive, the FIR against these people should be quashed.

Hundreds of PTI and PAT supporters led by their leaders had briefly seized the state broadcaster on Sept 1, 2014, at a time when the country was under intense political crisis.

The protesters had disrupted transmission of PTV news channel and PTV World for a short period of time. The buildings were later cleared by personnel of the Pakistan Army.

On Aug 31, 2014, in an attempt to topple the PML-N government, PTI and PAT workers marched towards the Prime Minister’s House. They clashed with law enforcers which resulted in the killing of three PAT workers.

Published in Dawn October 22nd, 2016