May 9 riots: 20 convicts freed after reprieve by Pakistan Army chief ahead of Eid

Islamabad: Ahead of Eid, at least 20 people sentenced by military courts for their involvement in the May 9 violence that erupted after the arrest of former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan last year have been released by the military authorities following a pardon by Army chief General Asim Munir.

The decision was shared by the federal government on Monday with the Supreme Court, which has been hearing a set of intra-court appeals (ICAs) against its October 23, 2023, unanimous ruling nullifying the military trials of civilians.

A six-member bench of the apex court, including Justice Aminuddin Khan, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Syed Azhar Hasan Rizvi, Justice Shahid Waheed, Justice Musarrat Hilali and Justice Irfan Saadat Khan, has been hearing the ICAs.

The case is about the trial of 103 civilians for their alleged involvement in the attacks on key Army installations during the riots that erupted after the arrest of Khan, the founder of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party.

Dozens of military installations and government buildings, including the military headquarters in Rawalpindi, were damaged or torched during the riots. Over 100 vehicles of police and other security agencies were set on fire.

During the last hearing held on March 28, the court conditionally allowed military authorities to announce verdicts of only those May 9 suspects who could be released before the Eid festival.

The report furnished before the Supreme Court stated that in pursuance to its March 28 directions, the military courts were allowed to resume trial and therefore sentences in cases of lesser punishments were handed down.

It said 20 persons were handed down sentences of one year of which 17 have served 10.5 months and three persons have served 9.5 months. As most of them had served around 10 months in jail, the remaining period of their punishment was remitted by the Army chief.

Among them, four belong to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa while the other 16 are from Punjab. They were released in their respective provinces on April 7 and 6.

The office of the Attorney General for Pakistan furnished a list of 20 individuals before the Supreme Court to be made part of the record.

Earlier, a five-member SC bench comprising Justices Ijazul Ahsan, Munib Akhtar, Yahya Afridi, Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi and Ayesha Malik had unanimously declared on Oct 23 last year that trying the accused civilians in military courts was against the Constitution of the country. The bench had also ruled they should be tried in civilian criminal courts.

A set of ICAs followed and the court on December 13 last year suspended the verdict by a 5-1 majority till the adjudication of the appeals. The appeals were filed by the then-caretaker federal government and provinces of Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab as well as by the defence ministry.

The final adjudication of the issue trial of civilians by the military courts is still pending as the court had adjourned the hearing until the last week of April.

Hundreds of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party workers and leaders were arrested after the riot but only those allegedly involved in attacks on Army installations were selected for trial by the military courts.