May 9 riots: Lahore ATC acquits Shah Mahmood Qureshi, sentences 4 leaders, others to 10 years

LAHORE: In another case of May 9 riots, an anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Saturday acquitted former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi while sentencing senior PTI leaders Dr Yasmin Rashid, Omar Sarfraz Cheema, Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed and former senator Ejaz Chaudhry to 10-year imprisonment each.

ATC-I Judge Manzer Ali Gill announced the verdict, which was reserved on Thursday. In the case registered at Mughalpura Police Station, the leaders were accused of attacking and burning police vehicles in the Mughalpura area during the 2023 riots.

The suspects were presented in the makeshift court established inside Kot Lakhpat Jail. Besides Qureshi, the court also acquitted 11 party workers.

A total of 22 PTI leaders and workers were nominated in the case, while two accused had been declared proclaimed offenders after allegedly evading arrest.

However, a few other workers were sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment each.

The prosecution alleged that the PTI leaders and other accused persons had planned the May 9 incidents and incited workers to engage in riots and acts of violence.

The prosecution presented 37 witnesses against the accused and urged the court to convict them under the law.

The May 9, 2023 riots had erupted as PTI supporters protested the arrest of party founder Imran Khan by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) from the Islamabad High Court premises in the Al-Qadir Trust case.

The workers and supporters staged violent protests throughout the country, vandalising military installations and state-owned buildings, while also attacking the Lahore corps commander’s residence. Following the riots, thousands of protesters, including party leaders, were arrested.

So far, verdicts in seven other May 9 cases have been announced, with Rashid, Cheema, Rasheed and Chaudhry being sentenced in multiple.

In December 2025, Judge Gill’s ATC acquitted Qureshi while sentencing the other four to 10 years in a case over an attack on the entrance gate of Government Officers’ Residence-I, Club Chowk.

Other verdicts were delivered in cases related to an attack on the Shadman police station, violence at Sherpao Bridge, the burning of police vehicles near Rahat Bakery, and the torching of a Supreme Court judge’s squad vehicle near Jinnah House during the May 9 protests. ...