An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Islamabad on Thursday issued non-bailable arrest warrants for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and other Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) backed lawmakers. A case against the KP CM, provincial Information Minister Shafi Jan, MNA Shahid Ahmed Khattak, and MPA Meena Khan Afridi was registered under terrorism and other charges at the Ramna Police Station. The ATC judge directed the Station House Officer (SHO) of the Ramna Police Station to arrest the four suspects and produce them before the court.
The case was registered over their alleged involvement in violent protests on November 26. The November 26, 2024, protest was aimed at building pressure on the government to release the PTI founder Imran Khan. The 71-year-old cricketer-turned-politician has been behind bars since August 2023 after he was booked in multiple cases ranging from corruption to terrorism since his ouster from power via the opposition's no-confidence motion in April 2022.
In another case related to the November 26 protests, ATC Judge Tahir Abbas Sipra issued non-bailable arrest warrants for eight PTI-backed lawmakers in a case registered at the Margalla Police Station. In this case, non-bailable warrants were issued for MNAs Shahid Khattak, Maulana Nasim Ali Shah, Aamir Dogar, Atif Khan, and Iqbal Afridi, as well as MPAs Meena Khan Afridi, Dr. Amjad, and Shafi Jan. The court directed the police to arrest all the suspects and produce them before the bench.
The development came a day after the ATC upheld the arrest warrants for KP CM Afridi, Junaid Akbar, Abdul Ghani Afridi, and others in the November 26 protest case, rejecting their requests for exemption from personal appearance. ATC Judge Tahir Abbas Sipra had directed police to submit the challan against the suspects at the earliest and adjourned further hearings until September 30. The court took the decision after the suspects repeatedly failed to appear during the proceedings.
The court rejected the exemption pleas filed on behalf of those who remained absent and continued proceedings against the chief minister and others. The case was originally registered at the Margalla Police Station against Sohail Afridi and other party leaders for disrupting public order.