Anti-Terrorism Court Orders Release of Five PTI Leaders, Including Omar Ayub and Raja Basharat
An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Rawalpindi issued a ruling on Friday, ordering the release of five PTI leaders, including Omar Ayub, Raja Basharat, and Ahmed Chatha, who were arrested outside Adiala Jail the previous day.
The three PTI leaders were arrested in connection with a case in Attock and were presented before the ATC. Their lawyers presented bail orders from the Peshawar High Court, leading to the granting of interim bail.
Meanwhile, Azim and Majid Daniyal, who were arrested in a separate case at the Dhamial Police Station, were not brought before the court since their cases were not under the jurisdiction of the ATC. As a result, Ahmed Chatha, Majid Daniyal, and Azim were released from custody following legal proceedings.
The police had stationed heavy security outside the ATC to maintain order during the court’s proceedings.
In a statement to the media outside the court, Advocate Mohammad Faisal Malik, representing the PTI leaders, condemned the arrests as illegal, describing the police’s actions as a “cheap tactic.” He stated that despite being on bail, the PTI leaders were still detained while attending a trial at Adiala Jail related to the GHQ case. Advocate Malik emphasized that there was no case against the arrested leaders, yet they had been detained after enduring a full day of trial.
The arrests came after the indictment of PTI Chairman Imran Khan in the May 9 and GHQ attack cases. On Thursday, Omar Ayub, the Opposition Leader in the National Assembly, was arrested outside Adiala Jail, followed by the detention of former law minister Raja Basharat and other PTI leaders, including Ahmed Chatha. Additionally, PTI worker Azeem was also arrested in connection with the violent protests that followed a final call for action.
