Lahore, Jul 19 (PTI) Pakistan’s Punjab police on Friday shifted former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi to Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail from Adiala jail in Rawalpindi following a permission granted by an anti-terrorism court (ATC) here.
“ATC-I Lahore Judge Khalid Arshad allowed Qureshi’s transfer on an application filed by DIG operations,” a court official told PTI on Friday.
Qureshi, who is also the vice-chairman of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, was indicted last Monday in a case related to May 9 riots.
Qureshi, 68, however, has denied all charges.
The police told the court frequent transportation of Qureshi from Rawalpindi to Lahore was not feasible for the authorities as well as the suspect who complained of fever.
Qureshi’s lawyer requested for his attendance via video link from Adiala jail but the judge observed that transferring him to Kot Lakhpat jail was better for the trial.
Qureshi is accused of abetment in the attack on Shadman police station in Lahore in connection with the May 9 riots last year following the arrest of cricketer-turned-politician Khan, 71, by the Rangers in a graft case.
The Lahore police had registered a case against many leaders and activists of the PTI party on the charges of attacking and burning the Shadman police station during the May 9 riots.
Besides this, multiple cases related to the May 9 violence had been lodged against Qureshi in Lahore alone.
Qureshi has been in prison since Khan and the former foreign minister were sentenced by a Pakistani court to 10 years in jail for violating the nation’s Official Secrets Act by making a diplomatic cable public when the former premier was in power.
However, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on June 3 acquitted Khan and Qureshi in the Cipher case, suspending their 10-year sentence, but the two remain in jail as they are implicated in multiple cases in connection with the May 9 violence across Pakistan.
The May 9 riots were triggered across the country after Khan was arrested by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in the 190-million-pound corruption case. He is currently facing over 200 cases and has been in jail since August last year.
Hundreds of PTI workers and senior leaders were put behind bars for their involvement in violence and attacks on military installations, including the Jinnah House, ISI building in Faisalabad and General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi, in May last year. PTI MZ PY PY PY
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