by Hussain Ahmed Chaudry and Chaudry Awais Younas
A new notification has been issued regarding the trial of 11 cases, including the GHQ attack case and the May 9 cases. According to the Punjab government’s notification, the trials for these 11 cases will begin on November 5 at the ATC Rawalpindi. Imran Khan will be presented via video link from Adiala Jail.
The details of this notification are as follows. In early September, while the Toshakhana II case was proceeding at a rapid pace, during that same period, the Rawalpindi ATC court resumed the 11 May cases against Imran Khan on 10 September after a long break. In court, we were informed that we had received a notification from the Punjab government, which ordered that the May 9 cases would now be tried in the ATC court via video link. This is because trials via video link are conducted only in extremely exceptional cases, and even then, typically for recording witnesses, not for the accused. This illegal notification was challenged in the Lahore High Court Rawalpindi Bench by Salman Akram Raja on the 19th, which reached Justice Sadaqat Ali Khan’s court five days later on the 23rd. There, in an in-chamber meeting, the judge stated that the case could not be heard before 29 September—the sole reason being to buy time and keep Khan Sahib completely isolated. And then, in a remarkable turn, on the night of 28 September, we learned that the May 9 cases trial would take place in jail the next morning. Well, the next day for the jail trial, Khan Sahib was neither summoned to court nor informed of it, and we were told he was exercising. Along with that, the hearing was adjourned until 20 October. On 20 October, the judge departed on leave, and the hearing was postponed until 23 October.Then, on 23 October, we were told that the police officer who was to testify had duty assigned at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, so the hearing was adjourned until 5 November. And today, on 31 October, this notification is before you again—the previous one was not made public. Now, all of you can gauge how Imran Khan Sahib’s cases are being handled. Once the witnesses, complainants, and prosecution in the cases are all proven false, they just keep giving date after date, adjourning the hearing on one pretext or another. So far, every single case against Imran Khan Sahib that has gone to trial has been proven false and fallen flat. Therefore, the entire nation must now understand that Imran Khan Sahib is not serving time in jail legally, but illegally.
