An Anti-Terrorism Court in Rawalpindi on Tuesday rejected two petitions filed by former Prime Minister Imran Khan related to the GHQ attack case.
The PTI chairman had requested access to CCTV footage of the attack and sought a temporary halt in court proceedings, pending directions from the Islamabad High Court (IHC) regarding the transfer of the case to a reform facility.
Judge Amjad Ali Shah presided over the hearing, attended by Khan’s legal team, including Faisal Malik and Salman Akram Raja, while the prosecution was represented by Special Prosecutors Zaheer Shah and Ikram Amin Minhas. Khan’s lawyers argued that consultation with their client was necessary for an effective defense and that access to security footage was essential.
Salaman Raja then came out of the court and made this statement. “While violating the rights of. Imran Khan, a petition has been filed in the High Court against trials conducted via video link, and after the boycott of the trial, PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja’s conversation with the media: A cell phone was placed in front of Mr. Imran Khan in jail, and a WhatsApp call was made to the judge’s phone. Neither could Mr. Khan hear the judge, nor could the judge hear Mr. Khan.
This is in no way a fair trial when Imran Khan is not even given the opportunity to present his stance. We, Mr. Khan’s lawyers, said that we should be allowed to speak with Mr. Khan. It is Mr. Khan’s legal right to speak with his lawyers in privacy, but we were not allowed to do so. Witnesses were testifying against Mr. Khan, and he had the right to be present in front of those witnesses speaking against him, but this right was also violated.
We have filed a petition in the High Court against this process. In principle, it should be heard tomorrow, but we will see when it is actually heard. Until this situation persists, we will continue to boycott the judicial proceedings.”