Rawalpindi (TDI): The military courts have handed down punishments to twenty-five individuals involved in the May 9, 2023, attacks on state installations, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Saturday.
“Field General Court Martial (FGCM) have in the first phase promulgated the punishments to twenty-five accused,” ISPR said, about the suspects who resorted to violence during the May 9 protests.
The demonstrations broke out after Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan was taken into custody in a graft case.
In turn, scores of PTI workers were apprehended and over 100 civilians are facing military trials.
However, PTI maintains that it had no role in the incidents involving military installations, including the attack on the General Headquarters (GHQ), and has demanded a judicial investigation into last year’s events.
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The ISPR statement said that the promulgation of the sentences of remaining accused is also being done and will be announced shortly as and when the due process is complete.
“All convicts can appeal against the ruling, as guaranteed by the Constitution,” the ISPR said in the statement.
Supreme Court’s Order
The military trials were initially halted after a Supreme Court verdict; however, the constitutional bench had last week directed that the cases pending due to the earlier order be finalized and rulings in the cases of those accused found involved in these violent incidents be announced.
Explaining the attacks, the ISPR said that on May 9, the country witnessed tragic incidents of politically provoked violence and arson at multiple places, marking a dark chapter in the history of the nation.
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It said that building on a sustained narrative of hate and lies, politically orchestrated attacks were carried out on the armed forces’ installations, including the desecration of the monuments of Shuhada (martyrs).
“These blatant acts of violence not only shocked the nation but also highlighted the need of checking this intolerable attempt of political terrorism to impose own perverted will through coercion and violence.”
Sequel to the events of this ‘Black Day’, through meticulous probes, irrefutable proofs were collected to legally prosecute the accused involved in the tragedy, the statement added.
