An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Faisalabad on Friday sent Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) Chairman Sahibzada Hamid Raza to jail on Friday, directing him to commence serving his 10-year jail term in a case pertaining to the May 9, 2023 riots.
Raza, along with several leaders of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), was convicted on July 31. He has since been in hiding, ostensibly in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. In a statement, his brother Sahibzada Hassan Raza said Islamabad Police detained Raza while he was en route to Faisalabad to surrender to court. He was subsequently presented before the court, which issued an order noting he was a convict sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment. Earlier this week, the Peshawar High Court had denied his transit bail.
The ruling stated that the Faisalabad Central Jail superintendent was required and authorized to receive the convict in his custody for the completion of his sentence in accordance with law.
Raza has multiple convictions, with the court ruling his sentences would run concurrently.
Speaking with media outside Parliament, PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan said Raza had surrendered of his own accord and was not arrested. “Hamid Raza surrendered himself—it was entirely his own decision,” he said, reiterating the PTI’s stance that the cases against all individuals convicted in connection to the May 9, 2023 riots were baseless.
On May 9, 2023, PTI and its affiliated parties staged violent demonstrations nationwide over the arrest of former Prime Minister Imran Khan. The riots targeted public and private infrastructure, including various military installations.