31/07/2025
Top Opposition Leaders from Imran Khan’s Party Receive 10-Year Sentences Over 2023 Riots
Date: July 31, 2025
Location: Islamabad / Faisalabad / Lahore
A Pakistani anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Faisalabad and Sargodha has handed down 10-year prison sentences to several senior leaders of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), led by jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan, for their roles in the violent protests of May 9, 2023. These riots erupted nationwide following Khan's arrest, during which PTI supporters vandalized military installations and government properties across major cities including Lahore, Rawalpindi, and Faisalabad.
Sentenced Leaders
Omar Ayub Khan, PTI opposition leader in the National Assembly
Shibli Faraz, opposition leader in the Senate
Zartaj Gul Wazir, PTI MNA
Sahibzada Hamid Raza and others—each received 10-year sentences.
In Sargodha, Malik Ahmed Khan Bhachar, leader of the Punjab Assembly’s opposition, along with Ahmed Chattha and Chaudhry Bilal Ejaz, received the same sentence.
In Faisalabad alone, 108 PTI members were convicted—58 of them (including parliamentarians and senior party figures) with the maximum 10-year terms; the remainder were handed shorter sentences of one to three years.
Legal and Political Repercussions
Convictions under the Anti-Terrorism Act automatically disqualify sentenced lawmakers from holding parliamentary seats as per Article 63(1)(g) of Pakistan’s Constitution. As a result, multiple National and Provincial Assembly seats have now become vacant, ushering in a wave of by-elections.
Government officials, including the State Minister for Law and Justice, have welcomed the verdicts as legally sound and constitutionally compliant. They characterized the May 9 riots as coordinated attacks on military and civic institutions. The PTI, however, dismissed the proceedings as politically motivated, announced plans to appeal to higher courts, and vowed new protests.
