-Awan terms terrorism case as fabricated
-Says govt destroying Pakistan’s narrative
-6 PTI leaders granted interim bails
Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Imran Khan, chairman of PTI and former prime minister, will appear before an anti-terrorism court (ATC) today (Thursday) for seeking bail in a terrorism-related case, a party leader said Wednesday.
In a video statement, PTI’s senior leader Babar Awan said the party’s legal committee decided that Khan’s bail plea would be filed in the ATC today, and the former premier would go there himself.
Awan claimed that by filing this case, the government has completely “destroyed” Pakistan’s anti-terrorism narrative as he termed the charges against Khan “false”.
“This is a fabricated case; no threat was issued; no Kalashnikov rifle was fired,” the former special assistant to PM on parliamentary affairs said.
A case was registered against the former prime minister under the Anti-Terrorism Act for threatening an additional sessions judge and senior police officers of the Islamabad Police during a public rally.
Seeking bail, the party moved the Islamabad High Court (IHC) where Khan managed to secure a transit bail till August 25, but was asked to approach the ATC as the case was terrorism-related.
The FIR registered against Khan states that he threatened Additional Sessions Judge Zeba Chaudhry and police officers at a rally in F-9 Park to “terrorise” police officials and the judiciary.
The main aim of the intimidation was to prevent the police officers and judiciary from carrying out their legal obligations, states the FIR.
The FIR was registered on the complaint of Magistrate Ali Javed in Islamabad’s Margalla Police Station under Section 7 of ATA.
Meanwhile, an Islamabad District and Sessions Court on Wednesday granted interim bails to six PTI leaders in a case pertaining to the violation of Section 144 (ban on public gatherings exceeding four persons) in the capital during the party’s rally on August 20.
PTI leaders Saifullah Niazi, Ali Awan, Raja Khurram, Faisal Javed, Sadaqat Abbasi, and Shahzad Waseem approached the court earlier in the day.
During the hearing yesterday, the applicants’ lawyers contended that the case booked against them was “baseless” and all the sections in the first information report (FIR) were bailable.
The entire country witnessed that the rally was peaceful, they argued, adding that the case had only been registered to suppress their clients. The lawyers subsequently pleaded that the PTI leaders be granted bail.
Subsequently, Additional Sessions Court Judge Faizan Haider Gilani granted them interim bail against surety bonds of Rs20,000 and instructed the PTI leaders to appear before the court on September 9.
