May 9 violence: ATC indicts PTI leaders, including Yasmin Rashid

• All accused have pleaded not guilty for role in May 9 riots.
• Court summons witnesses to record statements on Dec 16.
• Accused are booked in 2 cases at Sarwar Road police station.

LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders Dr Yasmin Rashid, Ejaz Chaudhary, and Rubina Jameel were Tuesday indicted by an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Lahore in a case pertaining to the May 9 violence.

All three accused, however, have pleaded not guilty in the case. The party's leaders have been imprisoned for months after being booked in cases related to the May 9 riots which were triggered after PTI chief Imran Khan was arrested in a graft case.

The ATC has now summoned the witnesses in the case to record their statements on December 16, while copies of the challan were distributed among the accused during the previous hearing.

All three accused have been booked in two cases at the Sarwar Road police station in Lahore.

It should be noted that the ATC extended Dr Rashid's judicial remand, handing her over to the Punjab Police till November 27 in a case related to the provocative speeches delivered on May 9 against state institutions at Lahore's Sherpao Bridge.

Following the riots and a stream of arrests that followed, Khan was released in the Toshkhana case, but many of his party's leaders, workers and supporters remained behind bars or were being rearrested time and again in multiple cases registered against them.

At present, the PTI chief and his party's Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi are being held in custody in the cipher case, while other leaders remain jailed in cases pertaining to the violence that ensued on May 9 with their trials being conducted across various courts in the country.

The May 9 riots were triggered almost across the country after the deposed prime minister's arrest in the £190 million settlement case. Hundreds of PTI workers and senior leaders were put behind bars for their involvement in violence and attacks on military installations.

During the protests, the miscreants targeted the civil and military installations including — Jinnah House and the General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi. The military termed May 9 "Black Day" and decided to try the protesters under the Army Act.