ATC clears 32 suspects arrested during D-Chowk protest

ISLAMABAD: At least 32 suspects arrested during the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI)’s D-Chowk, Islamabad, protest last month have been freed by an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in the federal capital on Saturday.

The individuals were brought for identification before ATC Judge Abul Hasnat Zulqarnain late at night, drawing the judge’s flak over the timing.

Defence lawyer Ansar Kiyani argued that police had arrested innocent workers from their homes to meet quotas. The investigating officer requested a 30-day remand for the suspects, citing failure to complete identification procedures since their arrest on November 25.

Judge Zulqarnain ordered the suspects’ handcuffs to be removed in court and discharged them from the cases.

He sternly warned the police against re-arresting them, saying: “If police do this again, I will have them handcuffed.”

The suspects were previously linked to cases filed at I-9 and Margalla police stations.

The former ruling party’s much-hyped protest last month in Islamabad, aimed at securing the PTI founder’s release, had culminated in the party’s hasty retreat after the government’s midnight crackdown on the protesters.

The party’s protesters were dispersed from the Red Zone in Islamabad following a crackdown by law enforcers with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur and PTI founder Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi taking to their heels, fleeing the protest site.

The law enforcement agencies had arrested more than 1,000 supporters of the party who stormed the federal capital to demand his release, the city’s police chief said talking to Reuters on November 27.

Khan’s aides had alleged, without immediately providing evidence, that hundreds had suffered gunshot wounds during chaotic scenes overnight in the heart of Islamabad as police dispersed protesters led by Khan’s wife who had broken through security barricades. They also said thousands had been arrested.

Islamabad’s police chief, Ali Rizvi, had denied that live ammunition had been used during the operation, which he said police had conducted alongside paramilitary forces.

He had said weapons, including automatic rifles and tear gas guns, were seized from the protest site where thousands had gathered. The site was cleared in a matter of hours.