ISLAMABAD: An anti-terrorism court on Tuesday accepted the exemption plea of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan in the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Asmatullah Junejo torture case.
The hearing was presided over by Judge Shahrukh Arjumand.
Imran Khan’s lawyer Shahid Naseem Gondal appeared before the court and requested exemption from personal appearance for his client.
The judge while approving his request to grant exemption adjourned the hearing till April 10.
On Sept 1, 2014, during the PTI and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) protests, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Asmatullah Junejo was beaten up by protesters on Constitution Avenue on his first day on the job as SSP Operations of Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Police.
Besides this, Imran and PAT chief Tahirul Qadri also face charges of destroying property in the Red Zone and attacking the state TV channel’s building.
PTI and PAT supporters had attempted to break a police cordon and storm the PM House, using cranes to remove barricades. The clashes between police and protesters resulted in the deaths of three people and caused injuries to over 560.
The Secretariat police had registered a case against several PTI and PAT workers for their alleged involvement in vandalism and attacking SSP Junejo.
The ATC had issued warrants for Khan and Qadri with directions to the police to produce them before the court. Police had later told the ATC that the execution of the arrest warrants against the two politicians could not take place as they were not found at their residence.
Police had also submitted a report before the ATC, saying that a police party had gone to the residence of Imran Khan in Bani Gala where a security guard informed them that Khan was not at home and that he did not know where he was.
In 2014, Khan and PAT Chairman Tahirul Qadri staged a major rally in Islamabad against alleged rigging in the 2013 election and the Model Town tragedy, which had seen as many as 14 people killed and 100 others injured when police attacked Qadri’s residence during an ‘anti-encroachment’ operation.
Khan had threatened to shut down the entire country in what was perceived as a bid to topple the government. The protest had continued for a record 104 days.
