Sawt Falasteen - Pakistan courts sentence dozens from Khan's party

The sentences were handed down by anti-terrorism courts in the eastern cities of Lahore and Sargodha after dozens were found guilty of involvement in anti-government riots when Khan was first arrested.

"Punjab Assembly's Opposition Leader Malik Ahmad Bhachar has been awarded a 10-year sentence," deputy minister of law Aqeel Malik said in a press conference.

Bhachar helms the opposition in Punjab, Pakistan's most populous and politically influential province. Following Tuesday's verdict, he pledged on social media "not to abandon" support for Khan.

A spokesman for Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party told AFP that Bhachar was not arrested until Tuesday evening.

In addition to Bhachar, a court in Sargodha also sentenced a sitting lawmaker, a former parliamentarian and 32 other supporters of PTI to 10 years each for attacking government buildings, Malik said.

Separately, a court in Lahore sentenced eight PTI members to 10 years in prison each for their involvement in riots in that city.

Those sentenced include former governor of Punjab province Omar Sarfraz Cheema, former provincial minister Yasmin Rashid, and Ejaz Ahmed Chaudhary, a sitting senator.

However, former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi was acquitted along with five others.

Khan, in office from 2018 to 2022, was initially arrested in May 2023, sparking nationwide unrest, some of which targeted military facilities.

Tuesday's sentences were handed down for attacks on police and civilian installations in Khan's home constituencies of Mianwali city and Lahore. Those accused of targeting military installations are facing separate trials in military courts.

PTI has vowed to challenge the verdicts in higher courts.

The prosecutions "expose a disturbing pattern of procedural impropriety, selective justice, and constitutional violations," said Sayed Zulfikar Bukhari, the London-based spokesman for PTI.

He called the trials "political spectacles... that are being rushed through at breakneck speed — day-to-day hearings, even late-night sessions till 10:40 PM on a Saturday."

Khan has been jailed since August 2023 on a slew of corruption charges his party says are politically motivated.

His supporters and senior party leaders have also faced a severe crackdown, with thousands rounded up and Khan's name censored from television.

Last year, a UN panel of experts found that Khan's detention "had no legal basis and appears to have been intended to disqualify him" from contesting elections.

Khan's popularity continues to undermine a shaky coalition government that kept PTI from power after the polls last year.

T.Samara--SF-PST