Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s possible trial in connection with the May 9 mayhem falls under the jurisdiction of military courts.
In a presser, he said the Pakistan Army Act was applicable to all those who entered, sent other people, or abetted those who entered restricted areas.
Sanaullah said the Pakistan Army Act and the Official Secrets Act were applicable to activities in military areas. “The Jinnah House is the residence of the [Lahore] corps commander and his camp office. Many sensitive items were also present in Jinnah House.”
The minister was referring to the attack on the Jinnah House by enraged PTI workers on May 9 following Khan’s arrest in the Al-Qadir Trust case. During the days-long protest, private and public properties were vandalised in cities across the country and PTI workers also attacked military installations, including the Jinnah House and the General Headquarters (GHQ) entrance.
The military has dubbed May 9 a “Black Day” and insisted that all those involved in the vandalism of military installations would be tried under the Pakistan Army Act and the Official Secrets Act. Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir has said the legal process in this regard has been started.
Sanaullah said that “only six” out of nearly 500 cases filed after the May 9 vandalism are being processed to be tried under the Army Act, rejecting the perception created by the PTI that all of those arrested will face military courts.
“The remaining will be tried by ordinary courts,” he said in a presser today in a bid to clear the air regarding the government’s crackdown against those allegedly involved in the May 9 mayhem.
“Various analyses and conspiracies have been spreading … so I thought it best to appear here and state the facts and figures,” Sanaullah said.
