Pak military court sentence 60 more civilians, including Imran’s nephew, to jail terms

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s military courts sentenced another 60 civilians on Thursday to prison terms ranging from two to 10 years for their alleged involvement in violent attacks on military installations during the nationwide protests on May 9, 2023 following the brief arrest of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan on graft charges.

The latest sentences were announced just days after the same courts handed prison terms ranging from two to 10 years to 25 civilians on similar allegations.

Imran’s nephew Hassan Khan Niazi, who was taken into military custody in Aug 2023, was one of two people sentenced to 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment.

The convictions followed a Supreme Court constitution bench order that had conditionally allowed military courts to pronounce verdicts on 85 under-custody civilians in cases related to the May 9 riots.

“The Field General Court Martial has promulgated the punishments to the following remaining 60 culprits after examining all evidence, ensuring the provision of all legal rights to the convicts, completion of due process and the appropriate legal proceedings,” Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the army’s media wing, said. “All convicts retain the right to appeal and other legal recourses, as guaranteed by the constitution and law,” it stated. “The nation, govt, and the armed forces remain steadfast in their commitment to upholding justice and ensuring that the inviolable writ of the state is maintained,” the ISPR added.

Dozens of politicians and supporters of Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) party were arrested despite their denying involvement in violence on May 9. At least 10 people were killed and hundreds injured during the May 9 riots, while approximately 40 public buildings and military installations were damaged, including the Lahore corps commander’s House (Jinnah House) and Askari Tower in Lahore, the army’s general headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) office in Faisalabad, the Radio Pakistan building in Peshawar, a toll plaza on the Swat motorway, and a PAF base in Imran’s hometown of Mianwali.

Imran and his party have called for a judicial probe into last year’s events, claiming that violence on May 9 was a “false flag” operation aimed at crushing PTI. The govt and military, however, claimed they had collected substantial evidence that the attack on the country’s most powerful institution was meticulously planned and carried out by the PTI leadership.

The US, UK and EU had expressed concerns over the sentencing of civilians by military courts, maintaining that the convictions were against international law.

Responding to the concerns raised by countries, the foreign office (FO) had stated on Tuesday that the military courts’ judgments were made under a law enacted by parliament and were in line with the ruling of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.