An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Islamabad on Monday ordered the blocking of passports of 24 Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders, including Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, Omar Ayub, and Asad Qaiser, over their failure to appear in a case related to the protests on Nov. 26, 2024.
Several PTI leaders and workers were nominated in connection with the protest, which sought to put pressure on the government to release incarcerated party founder Imran Khan.
During the hearing, ATC Judge Abual Hasnat Muhammad Zulqarnain observed that available records showed the accused had been nominated in the case, with the investigating officer informing the court the suspects could flee the country to evade legal proceedings.
The court observed that the accused face serious allegations, including attacks on state institutions and the promotion of terrorism. It also noted that the accused had failed to appear before the court, while those who had obtained interim bail had also not joined the investigation.
Accepting the investigating officer’s request, the court ordered the blocking of the accused persons’ passports and directed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to implement the order until further orders. Among lawmakers facing the passport blocks are Shehram Tarakai, Shah Ahmed, Sher Ali Arbab, Muhammad Iqbal Afridi, Amjad Ali, Junaid Akbar, Shahid Khattak and Zubair Wazir.
Other individuals whose passports were blocked are Arshad Umarzai, Zar Alam, Mian Umar, Akhtar Khan, Humayun Khan, Riaz Khan, Abdul Kabir Khan, Tufail Anjum, Asif Mehsud, Ajab Gul, Muhammad Usman, Babar Saleem Swati, Irfan Saleem, Advocate Ali Zaman and Malik Shahab.